Chelsea’s implementation is depressing. City qualifies for the final after controversial refereeing
Grigory Telingater April 20, 2024, 21:45 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Grealish’s hand will be remembered for a long time.
City suffered a painful exit from the Champions League this Wednesday at the hands of Real Madrid. At the same time, I also had to play 120 minutes. In turn, Chelsea could spend a week preparing for the FA Cup semi-finals. Perhaps that is why the Londoners did not seem worse than the treble winner during the first 10 minutes at Wembley.
But then City started creating chances. De Bruyne made a magnificent pass into the center of the area and Foden found himself face to face with the goalkeeper. Petrovich ran under the ball and forced the Englishman to shoot from an extremely acute angle: the moment was missed. Perhaps, if Haaland was in Foden’s place, he would have taken a one-touch shot. But the Norwegian scorer was absent from the lineup due to injury.
Manchester City-Chelsea
Photo: frame of the transmission.
At one point, City pressed the opponent so hard that defender Akanji passed the ball to defender Ake when they were both in the other penalty area. A funny moment occurred shortly after: Álvarez shot from a great position, but De Bruyne blocked the shot.
Manchester City-Chelsea
Photo: frame of the transmission.
It is true that before the break Chelsea began to have chances. And what a guy! In another’s area, Palmer dribbled past Rodri and shot at goal, but Ortega deflected. Jackson also got a clear one-on-one, but he dug in and didn’t even get it right. Almost the same opportunity was missed after the break.
Manchester City-Chelsea
Photo: frame of the transmission.
In the second half, in addition to the wasted chances by Jackson (he also did not score with a header from a few meters), a very controversial episode occurred. Palmer’s free kick hit Grealish’s outstretched hand. There was definitely a touch, but the referee didn’t notice it and didn’t even give a corner. Palmer and his teammates demanded a penalty, but the VAR considered the referee’s decision acceptable. At the same time, there was no such thing as the ball bouncing into the hand from the body. The disappointment of the Chelsea players was understandable.
Manchester City-Chelsea
Photo: Alex Pantling/Getty Images
Again, midway through the second half, Doku emerged and outplayed his opponents. And not only on the left flank, but also on the left side of the area. It was after a pass from the winger that City opened the scoring. The Chelsea goalkeeper held on to the first shot, but the ball bounced off Bernard Silva, who instantly fired it into the goal.
This goal was the only one of the match. Even with a controversial match and an even more controversial episode with Grealish’s handball, Guardiola’s team moves forward. On Sunday, City will find out who their opponents will be in the FA Cup decider. The second semi-final will also take place at Wembley, when Manchester United and Coventry face off.
The question everyone asks:
In two years, Chelsea spent more than one billion euros on players. When will this bubble burst?
