Pep Guardiola has shared some of Manchester City’s strategy from their win against Chelsea on Sunday.
City beat Chelsea 3-0 at Stamford Bridge, with Nico O’Reilly, Marc Guehi and Jeremy Doku scoring the visitors’ goals.
Doku was arguably the star of the show as he kept Malo Gusto busy all afternoon.
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Pep Guardiola admits Manchester City targeted Chelsea’s right flank
City were not at their best in the first half, but they really stepped things up in the second 45 minutes.
By that point, Guardiola was happy with their performance on both flanks but has admitted that a lot of their play did come down Chelsea’s right and their left.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, the City boss said: “Second half was a thousand times much better. It was not bad the first half, but some players were not as they were meant to be.
“We attacked a little bit on the left side, but the right side they just played to our threat. The second half was better on both sides.”
Chelsea without Reece James, discuss…
Malo Gusto and Jeremy Doku
Photo by Alex Livesey – Danehouse/Getty Images
In the end, Gusto could not contain Doku. There was little end product from Doku in the first half, but that changed in the second, with the Belgian even managing to grab himself a goal.
Gusto was not Chelsea’s worst performer on the pitch, though. Moises Caicedo had a really bad game and was responsible for Doku’s goal.
The Ecuadorian and his teammates have to improve quickly, with Manchester United being their next opponents.
Chelsea missed Reece James
Chelsea were so poor in the second half that having Reece James on the pitch would probably not have made too much of a difference.
The Blues still would have lost, especially after the way City went up another gear. With that being said, James is a better defender than Gusto and would have offered more in attack than the Frenchman.
Reece James of Chelsea
Photo by Jacques Feeney/Offside/Offside via Getty Images
He would have dealt with Doku better and given Chelsea more of a threat going forward. The scoreline would have possibly looked a bit better, but at this stage of the season, the Blues need wins and not respectable defeats.
Unfortunately for James and Chelsea, by the time the England international returns from injury, the race for top five may already be over.
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