Manchester City 1-0 Chelsea: Hits and Flops as Kevin de Bruyne's strike seals the deal for Cityzens| Premier League 2021-22
Manchester City beat Chelsea 1-0 in the Premier League on Saturday to extend their lead to 13 points at the top of the table.
Kevin de Bruyne scored a peach of a goal to seal the result in favor of Manchester City. The Belgian, after receiving the ball from Joao Cancelo, skipped past N'Golo Kante before smashing one in from the edge of the box.
The Blues were completely overshadowed by Pep Guardiola's men. They were unable to make a single attempt on goal in the opening half. Meanwhile, Jack Grealish had a great chance to put Cityzens ahead in the first half following an error by Mateo Kovacic. But Kepa Arrizabalaga made a brilliant save to deny the Englishman.
The visitors tried to creep back into the game later on as Romelu Lukaku drew a great save from Ederson following a pass from Kovacic. But since that attempt, Manchester City took complete charge of the proceedings. Their resilience was rewarded with a goal through De Bruyne's brilliant strike in the 70th minute.
1-0 🦁 #ManCity
FULL TIME | A superb @DeBruyneKev strike seals all 3 points! 🇧🇪💙
🔵 1-0 🦁 #ManCity https://t.co/u971GGGG8s
On that note, here's a look at the five hits and flops from either team in the game:
#5 Hit: Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)
Raheem Sterling is in red hot form. The 27-year-old had another amazing game. He was threatening every time he advanced higher up the pitch and traumatized Marcos Alonso with his dazzling performance.
Sterling combined well with Bernardo Silva and De Bruyne to disrupt Chelsea's defensive structure. He successfully completed two dribbles, won three duels, created two chances and made five recoveries throughout the game.
Following a series of spectacular performances, Sterling won the Premier League 'Player of the Month' award for December.
BIG result 🤟🏾❤️ https://t.co/hxRX1ZwTC5
#4 Flop: Hakim Ziyech (Chelsea)
After a couple of impressive performances, Thomas Tuchel started Hakim Ziyech alongside Lukaku and Christian Pulisic up front. But the Moroccan failed to leave a mark on the game.
Lukaku created a great chance for Ziyech in the opening half after shrugging off John Stones. But the 28-year-old failed to capitalize on it as the sequence was called off for offside. Moreover, he was miserable with his link up play and gave away the ball cheaply on various occasions.