After scoring on 68 minutes, Erling Holland’s expression was pure box office – and who could blame them? Manchester City were in front, Chelsea were scared, and relief was delivered by Pep Guardiola.
The ruthless striker’s 18th Premier League goal of the season was a sweetly lofted effort from a backpedaling, out-of-position Robert Sanchez in the Chelsea goal: Holland saw the ball kiss the net, then offered a comical finish. What else to do—you expect to be in front of a cheering crowd.
The No.9, whose goal ended with Ederson Cook, said: “It’s something we practice. We try to focus on space. And Ederson has already given me so much help it’s about perfect timing because he’s so precise.
It sealed three welcome points after a 4-2 midweek capitulation at Paris Saint-Germain and one of the poorest opening points here by City’s new £33.8m defender, Abdkudir Khasanov. In those strange times, Phil Foden’s late cleaner was a Philip. But who knows how City will perform when they need a result against Club Brugge in Europe on Wednesday.
Khasanov’s nightmare took just three minutes to unfold. First, he misjudged a jump and hit the air, not the ball. That led to him fumbling in a bid to recover and Ederson’s back header was too short. In Nicholas Jackson whose skill off the boot was easy for Noni Maduke to slide home.
The 20-year-old from Tashkent looked close to tears. Guardiola had his head in his hands, wondering if it was foolish to throw him straight in. The decision would have been “certainly” had Cole Palmer scored moments later from a free-kick that Khushanov had awarded for cutting down the Chelsea forward.
Khasanov, who was forced into a foul after giving the ball to the former City player, was booked by John Brooks – Guardiola again grabbed his head – and manager and player breathed a sigh of relief as Palmer slotted home the set-piece. gave
Could there be a worse debut for a player bought to help fix the team’s defensive woes? Much better was Khushnov’s next act after Maduke’s strike blocked Jadon Sancho’s effort after another Chelsea attack. At the other end, Umar Murmoosh was enjoying a less torrid time. Twice he made sharp breaks, although twice he was offside.
The Egyptian left Eintracht Frankfurt as the Bundesliga’s second-highest scorer. A dash of Marmos’ scoring prowess would have been a boon when Josep Guardiola flashed onto his right foot as he pounced on Sanchez’s goal.
Chelsea had arrived with just one victory – last week’s win against Wolves – in their last six league games but they were padding around the turf and pinging the ball as if all had been won. That was until, out of nowhere, Sanchez fired an Elke Gundogan into the feet of Marmos that went over but was ruled out again.
Now, finally, the City took control. And with Guardiola demanding a forward ball, Mateo Kovacic chipped Guardiola whose chest control cleared the left-back. His flak widened considerably but he soon gained parity.
This time Gundogan played a back-to-back pass to Matthias Nunes who ran through the middle. When the ball was squeezed down the left, the marauding Guardiola scored, after Marc Cucorella and Sanchez closed down City’s right-backs.
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Guardiola, who resisted substituting Khasanov at half-time, looked more subdued when Guardiola’s ball into City’s defensive third was too low for Gundogan. Chelsea failed to capitalize as they did moments later when Palmer was given possession. But here were the kind of lazy mistakes that cost the champions their lack.
It must have been contagious as next Levi Kolol lost Gundogan’s 30-yard flight pass and Holland were heading in quickly. The striker has a trick move to pull the ball to his left and pull the trigger faster than it seems possible. But Sanchez saves and Chelsea survive.
Khasanov’s debut for Forget ended after 54 minutes and was replaced by John Stones at centre-back. The new signing will have much better days so it’s best to say he didn’t see red after the initial yellow card.
Gradually the city was controlled. Chelsea were pushed back in a desperate game of defense against their hosts’ attack. Now came Holland’s moment. Trevoh Chalobah struggled under Ederson’s punt and the Norwegian took over. Sanchez, surprisingly, had advanced, so Holland lobbed him. Then the tasbih was drunk.
“He knows he has to improve,” Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca said of Sanchez’s blunder.
Late on came Foden’s sixth goal in six games, assisted by Holland, the killer finishing off the playmaker after a dash.
