Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea side were beaten 2-0 by Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. Erling Haaland and former Chelsea player Mateo Kovacic scored the decisive goals for City, leaving Chelsea still searching for answers.
Key Mistakes in Attack
Enzo Maresca’s choice to leave out Raheem Sterling who has been Chelsea’s best winger in recent months proved to be an incredible wrong call.
The omission of Raheem Sterling led to fans outrage, in a report from The Athletic, Raheem Sterling’s camp have released an official statement on his absence from the squad to face Manchester City as reported by Sportsbuddy.
Instead the Chelsea boss began with Christopher Nkunku on the left wing where the Frenchman was uncomfortable, and the forward failed to attempt any take on in the first half.
This weakened the impact that Chelsea’s attack had. On the other hand, Sterling had a good game against City in the last meeting between these two teams at Stamford Bridge.
The game ended 4-4 in which Raheem Sterling found the net and also emerged as Chelsea’s Player Of The Match.
Lack of Creativity in Midfield
Yet another blunder on the part of Chelsea was the role played by their midfielders.
The new challenge Enzo Maresca has not fixed is how to accommodate Cole Palmer in the advanced position that has saw him thrive for the blues.
Enzo Fernandez, who is known to be effective as a central midfielder, was moved further up the pitch, where his heavy touches slowed down Chelsea’s play in the final third.
This lack of creativity denied Chelsea the opportunity to unlock City’s defense.
Striker Woes Continue
It has often been seen that Chelsea has been dealing with the issue of a potent striker in recent times.
The individual mistakes of Nicolas Jackson played the most crucial part of it.
Early in the first half around the 14th minute mark, the Senegalese decided to beat City’s defenses instead of passing on a good opportunity to a teammate on the left.
It ended up as a wasted opportunity as Ruben Dias bullied the Chelsea striker off the ball.
Just few minutes to the end of the first 45, his attempt to get an equalizer turned out to be a wasted chance after rounding the defenders, he shot weakly which led to another spurned opportunity for the blues.
The Blues are still in negotiations to secure a deal for Super Eagles Striker Victor Osimhen from Napoli, and with only few weeks until the end of the transfer window, Enzo Maresca has many tasks to accomplish to return the blues to the powerhouse they once were.
