My 3 Thoughts: Chelsea 0, Man City 1

What was that, Thomas Tuchel?

Thomas Tuchel has been fantastic at Chelsea, but not today (Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)

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Here are my three thoughts on Manchester City’s 1-0 win at Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday in my Game of the Weekend:

• Chelsea’s head coach took things too far. You’re Thomas Tuchel. You’re coaching the European champions, Chelsea, at home against Man City. You’ve done an incredible job turning Chelsea into a rock-solid defensive unit over the past year. But you’ve taken that too far today. You’ve given too much respect to City, opting for a 3-5-2 with three non-creators in the central midfield (N’Golo Kanté, Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho) and praying they’ll be able to hit a streaking Timo Werner (and his first-time partner, Romelu Lukaku) on the counter the few times you get the ball. You’re letting City dominate possession in your half of the field, as if they’re being told they have to follow Milan manager Stefano Pioli’s suggestion this week that teams shouldn’t be allowed to pass backward over the halfway line once they’ve crossed it. Man City dominates possession with 60 percent of the ball, which isn’t a surprise. But you, Thomas Tuchel, are the surprise with these extreme tactics, which can’t make Chelsea fans happy at all in their own stadium. By the time City deservedly goes ahead 1-0 in the second half, you bring on Kai Havertz—your match-winner as a starter from the Champions League final against the same team—and change to a 3-4-3, but it’s too late. This one’s on you, Coach.

• City’s best center forward didn’t play center forward but scored the game-winner on a classic center forward play from a center forward’s position. Gabriel Jesus has been playing out wide for a while now at City, but after the failure to sign Harry Kane, he remains City’s best center forward (if Pep Guardiola were to play him there). On a day when Phil Foden was ineffectual as a false 9, Jesus scored the game-winning goal on a classic center forward play. Stationed centrally for once at the top of the box, Jesus was the recipient of João Cancelo’s attempted shot from distance, and then Jesus did what the best No. 9s do: He somehow managed to turn, fake in one direction, then move in the other despite having four Chelsea defenders surrounding him. Just getting the shot off was impressive enough, and while he benefited from a deflection by Jorginho into the net, you still felt that Jesus had earned it, as had the entire City team with their attacking domination. (Also, give some credit to the ball played by Kevin De Bruyne off the corner kick to feed Cancelo in space. De Bruyne could have crossed the ball into the box and didn’t. That type of restraint paid off.)

• City busted their tails today. For all the skill and control and attacking verve that City’s paymasters have spent hundreds of millions of pounds on, City’s players are also capable of expending maximum effort on the right occasion. After a subpar tie at home last week against Southampton and kicking off a brutal three-game away stretch at Chelsea, PSG and Liverpool, City dug into the desire well from the opening whistle, pressing Chelsea deep into its own territory, forcing turnovers and keeping the ball almost exclusively in one half of the field. Guardiola can seem like a weirdo at times on the sideline in these games with his mannerisms and exaggerated gesticulations, but they symbolized the all-out desire that his team showed today. Man City has more money than Croesus, and the disparity with nearly every other team (except Chelsea!) is a problem for the sport, but it’s also heartening to see that the City players have a collective heart in addition to their skill and athleticism. A week after people like me were calling Chelsea the team to beat in the Premier League, City deserved this victory at Chelsea and (along with Man United losing at home to Aston Villa) showed why they’re still the English champions.

Other scribbles in my notebook for this game: Chelsea’s Antonio Rüdiger is one of the most annoying players in the sport, but he’s an annoying player I’d want to have on my team … City’s Jack Grealish got in some really dangerous positions but wasn’t sharp enough on the finish or the final pass … Chelsea’s Édouard Mendy really is an upgrade on Kepa … Christian Pulisic continuing to be out injured just 13 days before he’s set to join the USMNT for World Cup qualifiers is frustrating … With City playing such a high back line, Chelsea should have been able to hit it over the top more often to Werner, but Chelsea wasn’t able to do it, not least because City’s defensive pressure didn’t give Chelsea the space to do it.

What are your thoughts on the game? You can share them in the comments below.

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