In the Football Manager game, whenever there are old players in the opponent's team, the headline of the post-match report will always attract attention with words such as "A player loses to his old club and achieves a counterattack". But after the end of the real Premier League focus game, the hero of the above title will not be Sterling, who actually "stabbed" his old club, not Palmer, who continued the first round of play, and Ark, who was tortured a little stumbling in the first half. The 1-1 draw was both a tribute to the Blues' super-level performance and a wake-up call for Pep Guardiola.
Chelsea have found a sense of direction and it would be too much luxury to waste chances
The result exceeded most people's expectations, and most of the scores were as exaggerated as the first leg before the game, led by Sutton, Merson and other celebrities, but Manchester City was better. Such a judgment must be based on the conclusion that the two teams diverged after the 4-4 game. The truth is that Pochettino's side once gave the audience a sense of déjà vu of the 2021 Champions League final in front of the creative Manchester City, and some of the players on the pitch may even seem unfamiliar to Blues supporters.
Palmer, who was highlighted and mentioned by Guardiola in the pre-match press conference, continues to be in form, and he is also an important part of Pochettino's targeted deployment: not only can he reasonably play a role in the right half of the home team, but also cooperate with Gusto's increasingly familiar passing and running, and also make Manchester City's system "regional paralysis".
If Chilwell and Conor Gallagher's hot form was expected, the transformation of Raheem Sterling and Jackson from being "comedians" to actually giving Blues fans joy in a short period of time may not have been expected by Pochettino. The Blues' original strategy was to get around the home side's bloated centre by playing long diagonal passes and hitting the wall, in order to exploit the running advantages of the two forwards. Under Akanji's poor sense of position, Uncle Bo's set-up gradually worked, but in the first half hour, the Blues clearly did not have the "human" factor.
Palmer's involvement was frowned upon by Ake, who missed the flanks and Gusto was able to sweep the ball down the middle in a split second after receiving a penetrating through-ball, but then Jackson's answer sheet was clearly not prepared for this level of play, whether it was a change of center of gravity or a final kick. The play of the partner and the high-speed rotation from defense to attack clearly had a negative impact on Sterling: even if there was a suspicion of offside, Enzo's pick and turn was beyond reproach. However, in the hinterland of no one around, Sterling's invisibly intent-based kick made everyone dumbfounded, and Balotelli's "thinking about life" in the past may not be as sinful as this time.
Fortunately, there were only three things to do, and it was the two players who seized the opportunity that had made mistakes before. Jackson rarely caught a glimpse of his teammates when pushing vertically, and Sterling avoided Walker, who was far ahead of him in speed and hardware, and the space for his feet suddenly opened up, and the goal from the far corner was a matter of course. Before the opportunity at his fingertips, Sterling hesitated, but in a very challenging situation, the Blues No. 7 was able to regain his former shadow, and the praise of the former ** at the Guardiola press conference played a role in a "capital enemy".
It wasn't even the Blues' last chance, as Gusto's treacherous cross almost allowed Dias to keep the ball in the back of the net after the change of sides. In fact, Chelsea's tactics worked, and much relied on the sacrifice of the defenders. The up-and-down flown of Gusto and Ben Chilwell covered the numerical void on the counter-attack, with the former playing with Doku in the defensive end; Despite failing to claim the three points, Disasi was also worthy of the Blues' man-of-the-match title as the resurgent French centre-back secured the first 80 minutes with four successful aerial duels and 16 clearances.
Uncle Bo is one move short of chess, but Lan Yue still can't afford to lose his mind
When asked by reporters about Chelsea's disproportionate performance, Guardiola's avoidance actually gave him enough face, and he certainly didn't get any polite words from him about Pochettino. Uncle Bo was full of praise for his old opponent, and he was quite looking forward to this round of competition.
The difference in attitude between the two sides explains to a certain extent, Guardiola no longer and does not have to regard Uncle Bo as an equal opponent, and the latter urgently needs to change his views on the field in his own way. After all, Pochettino's last league win over the Blues boss was back in 2016, and the former's peak moment came in controversial ways to qualify for the Champions League in 2019.
If you want to wash away the fact that you and the Blues often fall into the underdog when facing Pep Guardiola – Chelsea's last win over Manchester City was a Champions League victory, and this game is undoubtedly the best opportunity to do so. Pochettino's two back-hitters not only buried the advantage created by the deployment in the first half, but also once again exposed the objective tactical attainments of himself and Guardiola.
When Rodri fired another shot into the box, substitute Casadei couldn't be in time to block it; Chalobah, who came in with the intention of strengthening the defense, did a bad thing with good intentions: the ball broke after touching, and Petrovic, who had already made the choice to save, could not save the fate of the team.
Pochettino's explanation after the game was that he was determined to consolidate the defence thoroughly after observing that the back four system was a little inadequate. However, even ignoring the unknown defensive effect and counting on Conor Gallagher and Nkunku to be spoilers on the counter-attack, Uncle Bo was overconfident and forgot about the possibility of Manchester City's high probability of equalising.
Even if it gets a draw, it is not difficult to see how disappointed Guardiola is through the expression on his face in the post-match interview. The gap between the team and the title contenders is widening, and Chelsea are in the way, which is annoying enough; And the three great chances that Manchester City wasted were all taken by Haaland, which is quite a dangerous sign. It was difficult to shoot with his left foot late in the first half, but on 77 minutes De Bruyne's cross from the Blues around the entire back line was clearly unforgivable. Fortunately, before the arrival of the extreme schedule in March, Gua Shuai still has enough time to enlighten** and regain the feeling of breaking the goal.