The City feels champion

Champions, champions. Hey, hey, hey. This is how the Etihad Stadium celebrated Kevin De Bruyne’s goal in the 70th minute of the match. A goal with the flavor of a league title. At least for a Manchester City that took the initiative, dominated and won, that the auction is what counts. Despite Thomas Tuchel’s complaints about his side’s performance in the first-round match at Stamford Bridge, Saturday’s game in north-west England followed a similar script. The light blue ones commanded and the ones in blue waited behind. Retracted. Comfortable. Threatening to rip off Romelu Lukaku, who gave the afternoon to John Stones and Aymeric Laporte. Much ado About Nothing.

Although it was Raheem Sterling, Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne who pulled the car in attack, Jack Grealish was the one who had the clearest chance in the first half. A loss by Mateo Kovacic on the edge of his own area allowed the Englishman to face Kepa Arrizabalaga, who won heads-up against the former Aston Villa player. In the second half the dynamic was the same, but the intensity was greater. He threatened to break the game after the restart, with both teams easily reaching the opposite goal. In this exchange of blows, Lukaku had the clearest opportunity to open the scoring and move Chelsea closer to the lead. Ederson appeared, the man of constant concentration. The Brazilian took the shot from the Belgian.

Another footballer from Belgium, Kevin De Bruyne decided that this far. He received a ball from Joao Cancelo and started towards the edge of the area. He left his peer behind and He took a hard and tight shot, impossible for Kepa. The goal brings Manchester City closer to its second consecutive league title, this is how the Etihad Stadium celebrated it. There was an eruption of noise and euphoria in the stands, on the bench and on the pitch. The leader beat the second classified and extended his advantage to 13 points. There was nothing Chelsea could do about it. Thomas Tuchel brought on Callum Hudson-Odoi, Jorginho and Mason Mount in the final minutes. He changed the system to a 4-3-3. Too little momentum, too late. Manchester City feels champion.