Match date: 21 September 2014

Manchester City have the tougher of the two teams in the week preceding with a match against Arsenal, which ended at 2-2, and their midweek Champions League match against Bayern Munich, which they lost 1-0. Chelsea played Swansea City last week and Schalke in the Champions League, though stumbled a bit with a draw against the German side.

At the moment, this is the biggest game of the English Premier League season. Manchester City won the title last year, while Chelsea were unbeaten in their opening four Premier League fixtures.

Mourinho set out Chelsea in a 4-2-3-¼-4-1-1, with Fabregas and Matic acting as the two holding players. Pellegrini also deployed something of a 4-2-3-¼-2-2-2, with Dzeko and Aguero dropping into a number 10 position at different times throughout the match.

Midfield Battle – Manchester City

As mentioned, the two sides were set out by their managers in similar formations. Manchester City were arguably a 4-4-2 at times, with Dzeko and Aguero switching between a number 10 role, but overall both sides were in a 4-2-3-1.

The middle battle was won and lost because of Jose Mourinho’s tactics. With this being a big away game, Mourinho was always going to be cautious and this showed in his full back selections. Ivanovic is an excellent defender, but unless he is up the field on a set piece, his influence in the attacking half is very limited. Azpilicueta is a good attacking full back when he is played on the right side, but when he is played on the left, as Mourinho did for much of last season and again here today, he is much less adventurous going forward. So while this allowed Chelsea to remain solid at the back, it also allowed Manchester City to win the midfield easily.

With the Chelsea full backs rarely getting forward, Manchester City’s wide midfielders, in David Silva and James Milner, were allowed to push inside and give Manchester City a huge numerical advantage in that space, especially as Willian was often in line with Diego Costa when Chelsea were defending. With Milner and Silva tucked inside alongside Fernandinho, Yaya Toure, and Aguero and/or Dzeko dropping in, it gave Manchester City a two to three man advantage. It helped Manchester City easily keep the ball, which they had 59% of, as well as territory, which they had 55%.

Defensively, however, it also played a significant role. Again, with Ivanovic and Azpilicueta staying in their back four positioning despite Chelsea possession, it allowed Milner and Silva to tuck in and help cut off passing lanes into Diego Costa and disrupt the Chelsea midfield’s ability to play. Below, you can see a good example of Manchester City’s narrow midfield, with the passing lanes to Costa cutoff. Though a rarity, Ivanovic is actually the safest out ball for Chelsea in this particular screen capture.

With the passing lanes to Costa cutoff when Chelsea had possession in Manchester City’s half, and because Chelsea were happy to concede possession to Manchester City, a lot of the balls that Costa received were long balls aimed at the new Chelsea striker, with it being his responsibility to hold the ball up and bring others into play.

Chelsea’s Defensive 4-4-2

Manchester City had a lot of the ball and when they did, Chelsea dropped into a 4-4-2, with Willian and Diego Costa as the strikers, but who were, most the time, also behind the ball. All three lines remained incredibly compact, negating Manchester City’s ability to get the likes of David Silva and Sergio Aguero the ball in the space between the lines, which Mourinho has often highlighted as the most important space on the pitch. Below, you can see the compactness of the midfield line to the back four. Hazard is stepping to close down Zabaleta, but only to force a pass, not to try to take the ball away.

On the other side, Ramires did a very good job at keeping Kolarov’s attacking influence to a minimal. Kolarov is certainly one of the best attacking full backs in the English Premier League and so the decision to start Ramires in a wide right role was essential to keeping the Serbian from having more of an influence on the match from that side. Zabaleta is a reliable full back, and while he is good going forward, he certainly isn’t as threatening as Kolarov so playing Hazard on that side was worth the counter attacking qualities that Hazard brings to the side.

Changes and Zabaleta’s Red card

Mourinho was the first to make changes, bringing on Schurrle and Mikel for Ramires and Willian. This moved Fabregas, who had been partnering Matic as a holding midfielder, up the field behind Diego Costa. Mikel dropped in alongside Matic and Schurrle took up a position on the right. Three minutes after Mourinho’s substitutions, in the 66th minute, Zabaleta was given his second yellow card.

Pellegrini was forced to being on Sagna for Dzeko, putting Manchester City into a 4-4-1. Almost immediately after, Chelsea scored on a fantastic counter attack following a Manchester City corner kicked. Pellegrini made a positive change as a result, bringing on Jesus Navas for Fernandinho, moving Milner alongside Yaya Toure. Five minutes later, Pellegrini’s last change was bringing on Lampard for Kolarov, which moved Milner to left back, allowing Lampard to play in central midfield. Yaya Toure sat a bit deeper with the introduction of Lampard and allowed the former Chelsea man to get forward into the Chelsea box, which resulted in his goal.

Chelsea and Mourinho could have taken more advantage the circumstance, but rather than look to kill the game off, Mourinho had his side sit even deeper and invited the 10-man Manchester City to pass the ball in front of them. Just look at the build up play prior to Lampard’s goal below. Manchester City were able to pass the ball with relative ease, with Chelsea failing to attempt a tackle in the middle part of the pitch at anytime following Zabaleta’s sending off.

Conclusion

It would have been interesting to see whether Mourinho would have opted to bring on someone like Oscar or even Remy had his first substitutions came after Zabaleta’s red card rather than before and whether that would have had a bigger influence on the match in Chelsea’s favour. However, Mourinho and Chelsea will be happy with a point from a match at the Etihad.

Pellegrini criticised Mourinho’s defensive tactics after the match, which were to no one’s surprise. Interestingly, it was a defender, Mangala, who was arguably Manchester City’s best and most impressive player. He won the ball back well, was able to muscle Diego Costa around, and showed excellent pace throughout the match to cover for Kolarov. Milner was also important to Pellegrini’s side, showing his versatility after the red card in centre midfield, right back, and then left back, the latter of which he showed good presence going forward.

Chelsea play Aston Villa in their next league match, while Manchester City play Hull City.