Manchester City 1-2 Chelsea: 5 talking points – Aguero’s panenka saved, Chelsea at third spot

Sergio Aguero-Manchester City

Manchester City are being made to wait for the Premier League title after they were beaten 2-1 by Chelsea at home earlier tonight.

A win tonight could have secured the league title for Pep Guardiola. 

Despite taking the lead in the first half through Raheem Sterling, Manchester City failed to build on their advantage, and Chelsea pegged them back in the second half through Hakim Ziyech and Marcos Alonso.

Here at Anytime Football, we look at the five major talking points from tonight’s game.

Sergio Aguero is a shadow of his former self

The Argentine striker is a Premier League and Manchester City legend, but his powers have waned.

Aguero missed a crucial penalty at the stroke of half time. The Manchester City striker decided to try the panenka, but Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy managed to readjust in time, and he pulled off a very comfortable save.

The City legend, who is linked with European rivals for summer transfer, later took to social media to apologise. The Argentine has not started for Guardiola side for last few months, and had a real bad day at Etihad.

Thomas Tuchel gets the better of Pep Guardiola once again

The German manager has an excellent record against Pep Guardiola since taking over at Chelsea, and he has managed to beat the Spaniard twice now.

Chelsea picked up a narrow win over Manchester City in the FA Cup, and they have managed to beat the Champions elect tonight.

The Blues will be made hoping to make it three in a row when the two sides meet in the Champions League final later this month.

Dramatic changes to the starting lineup

Pep Guardiola decided to rest several of his key players tonight, and the likes of Kevin De Bruyne were dropped.

Manchester City already have one hand on the Premier League trophy, and the Champions League final is weeks away. It was indeed surprising that the Spaniard chose to rest his key players for this game.

A win here would have wrapped up the Premier League title for Manchester City. Furthermore, a win over Chelsea would have given Guardiola’s side a major confidence boost heading into the Champions League final later this month.

Ziyech repeats his heroics against Manchester City

The former Ajax midfielder scored a vital goal against Manchester City at Wembley in the Cup game, and he has managed to do so once again in the Premier League now.

With the likes of Mason Mount missing from the squad, Ziyech had the freedom to operate in his natural role for Chelsea today, and the midfielder flourished. He will be hoping to get more chances to showcase his quality in an attacking midfield role now. 

The impressive Billy Gilmour

 The 19-year-old Chelsea midfielder was handed a rare start by Thomas Tuchel tonight, and he was exceptional for Chelsea.

Gilmour worked hard throughout the game, and he was relentless with his pressing. The youngster harassed the Manchester City midfielders with his work rate, and he helped out his side defensively as well.

The Chelsea midfielder was mature with the ball at his feet, and he kept recycling possession throughout the game. 

It will be interesting to see if he can hold down a regular starting berth at Stamford Bridge next season.