In Chelsea’s 3-0 defeat to Manchester City, there was a bit of a battle going on between Pedro Neto and Rodri during the first half.
Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville, who was commentating on the game, picked up on it.
And it is fair to say that he was impressed with Neto after one moment involving the winger and Rodri.
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Malo Gusto and Jeremy Doku
Photo by Alex Livesey – Danehouse/Getty Images
Gary Neville impressed with Pedro Neto’s piece of skill against Rodri
There was a phase of play where Neto was able to get past Rodri despite the City midfielder having him cornered.
Highlighting the piece of skill that Neto managed to produce on Sky Sports, Neville said: “Brilliant from Neto. Rodri recovers well behind him. How does he [Neto] get out of this?”
Before that, there was also another moment when Neto was able to get the better of Rodri. Discussing it while on commentary duty, Neville said: “The big surprise here is not Neto going past Rodri, but how he gets past Rodri.”
Manchester City's Spanish midfielder #16 Rodri jumps
Photo by Adrian Dennis / AFP via Getty Images
While Neto and Cole Palmer looked really bright in the first half, it did not amount to anything in the end. Chelsea could not convert any of their chances and were made to pay for it in the second 45 minutes after City decided to raise their level.
All three of their goals came after the break, while Chelsea’s attacking threat decreased. Chelsea had a real problem down their right-hand side, with Jeremy Doku getting a lot of joy on it in both halves.
Pedro Neto’s impressive attacking stats against Manchester City
This was Neto’s best Premier League performance in a while. According to Sofascore, the 26-year-old made three key passes and completed two crosses.
Neto also completed three out of five dribbles. He faded in the second half, but Chelsea did as a whole.
All in all, the Portugal international can be satisfied with his performance. With that being said, he has not scored a goal in the English top flight since December, which was such a long time ago.
Now would be a great time for Neto to start scoring again as Chelsea try to close the gap with the top five.
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