JOSE Mourinho’s ploy to deflect attentions from his underperforming BPL reigning champs, Chelsea, by making a scapegoat of team doctor Eva Carniero after last week’s barely earned draw at home to Swansea backfired spectacularly at the Etihad Stadium Sunday as rampart Manchester City tore, battered and brutalized the Blues in a 3-0 romp.
In truth the defeat could have been more emphatic as stand-in goalkeeper Asmir Begovic had to pull off many heroics to make the outcome respectable for the tepid champions at the backyard of their deputies who they dethroned last season. The defeat also marked the worst start by any defending BPL champs since the inception of the re-christened English top flight in 1992.
Chelsea trail City by 5 points after just 2 matches! Certainly not the end of the world. Most certainly still a very bridgeable gap. But Blues faithful, please, look thou not at the table now because your darling champs sit in 16th position which could become 17th should newly promoted Bournemouth get a result at Anfield on Monday! But of course, it’s only two games into a marathon league campaign.
Nobody wins a league title in August, though Chelsea’s rivals will enjoy having a five-point advantage on the reigning champions this early stage of the campaign – the Manchester clubs especially.
But more than the gap and history, Mourinho would be very concerned about the performances of some of his stalwarts. Eden Hazard remained a shadow of himself; Branislav Ivanovic continued to play like it’s his twin brother who has turned up for the season; captain and legend John Terry was subbed at half-time and more alarmingly the Blues were thoroughly bullied, battered, bloodied and brutalized literarily physically!
Ask “Street Fighter” hitman Diego Costa (bloodied head) and Gary Cahill (bloody nose) and you’d get the true picture of the first 45 minutes at the Etihad. Good a thing Dr. Carniero was out of sight in Manchester. In truth the doctor could permit herself some chuckles as Man City medics were seen attending to injured Chelsea players when the visitors physicians seemed over-stretched to cope with multiple situations.
Mourinho conceded City were the better team in the first half which they led 1-0, although it could have been four or five, but for Begovic’s heroics!
Manuel Pellegrini’s wards left the champions in no doubt about their intention when Sergio Aguero raced clear on goal only to be denied by brave Begovic. Time? It was only 22 seconds! I repeat: the match was only 22 seconds old and the Blues could have been a goal down! The Argentine forward, who was making his first start of the season, eventually punished the Blues on 31 minutes by which time Costa and Cahill could be seeing double!
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