Chelsea's display at the Etihad against Manchester City yesterday was lifeless and lacklustre - with one passage of play completely summing up their atrocious performance.
City, who went 18 points clear at the top courtesy of Bernardo Silva's strike just after half-time, were not at their best but were in complete control of last season's champions; so comfortable in fact that they were able to play without any pressure from their opponents.
Some of these would have acquitted themselves better:
A 15 second clip from the 74th minute is doing the rounds and shows Antonio Conte's side strolling about as City knock the ball about in midfield. It's like when you have to go for your tea when you're in the middle of an online game on FIFA and have to put the pad down.
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Cesc Fabregas, Willian and co. showed no desire whatsoever to win the ball back and there's been reaction aplenty on social media:
Clearly, it's common practice for opposition sides to sit deep and look to counter against Pep Guardiola's runaway leaders because you simply cannot outplay them and on the basis of what we have seen this term, if you try and press high and play an open game, you get ruined.
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In last season's game between City and Chelsea at the Etihad, the Stamford Bridge club were anything but adventurous but destroyed City on the counter attack and won 3-1.
Yesterday, they offered absolutely nothing, failing to muster a single shot on target and only managing 29 per cent possession.The approach from Conte came under serious criticism, with Jamie Redknapp calling it "anti-football" on Sky Sports.
However, the Italian tried to defend his tactics in his post-match press conference and had a dig at Redknapp.
Thoughts on how Chelsea approached the game yesterday?
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Sound off in the comments.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Manchester City, Football News, Chelsea, Football, Cesc Fabregas, Premier League, Antonio Conte
