Chelsea 1-0 Manchester City: Match Statistics
All the talk ahead of kick-off in Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final at Wembley was about Manchester City’s quadruple bid, but by the time the full-time Whistle flew, Chelsea proved they could beat Pep Guardola’s side.
And it’s all down to one man: Thomas Tuchel.
The German had never gotten better than Guardiola as a coach before it would have deserved a 1-0 win in full.
They were never competing on the playground when the pair first ended up in Germany, even when Tuchel swapped Mainz for Borsalia Dortmund. In Guardiola’s Bayern Munich there was no restriction.
However, Tuchel has since headed to bigger and better things, taking Paris Saint-Germain to the first Champions League final of last year before being appointed as the successor to Frank Lampard in January.
As parc des princes, Tuchel now has the resources to rival Guardiola in the city, and has now shown himself capable of making a major impression on English football.
He was already making a massive impact at Stamford Bridge, of course, losing only two of Chelsea’s first 19 games in charge. And this week, he led his new team to the semi-finals of the Champions League, which means the Blues can meet City again this season, with a European Cup on the line.
On the evidence of what we saw at Wembley, Chelsea would envision their chance. In fact, they were good value for their 55th minute opener, which came courtesy of Hakeem Zeech.
For once, City were unable to hug the ball, claiming a 49.5 percent stake for Chelsea’s side during the first half.
“If you have a good ball possession against City, it’s probably the best way to defend,” Tuchel told reporters after the game. “But we were also very strong in defensive stats, and are down to the courage of the players, both as individuals and as a team.
“We defended very actively and aggressively, with great solidarity. Everybody needs to attack and defend. This is the key. “
Tuchel’s approach certainly forced a tactical shift on the part of Guardiola, who after the restart clearly instructed the side to keep the side high pressing the pitch.
No sooner did they advance their defensive line than Chelsea, Mason Mount released a power-quick Timo Werner, who crossed for Zaich to tap home.
It was just the latest in a long line of clever tactical tweaks that Tuchel has made since he took over, and eventually decided to game in his favor.
It was a goal that also showed that Tuchel have a good hold of this team after the midweek aggregate victory over Porto in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
It was after that match in Seville that Tuchel opted to keep his players in the south of Spain for the extra night. They remained in their bubble but made time for some hard-working team.
He allowed them a drop of alcohol, A chance to let off some steam during the most pressing part of the season.
Of course, not everyone has benefited from the arrival of Tuchel, as outlined Even if the FA Cup allows a nine-man bench, Tammy Abraham missed the match squad.
Still, there is no denying that star summer signing Kai Havertz and Werner have moved forward under his leadership, while Christian Pulisic is also in form.
The mix also has a lot of homegrown protagonists, with Callum Hudson-Odoi and Reece James retaining all of the lead roles in Tuchel’s team.
The bottom line is that, after only three and a half months, Tuchel has shown that Chelsea are ready to compete for the big honor again. With this victory, he has become the first German manager to reach the FA Cup final.
That he has acquired that little piece of history by beating Guardiola, which is arguably even more important.
“It was an outstanding performance in all matters and all disciplines of the game,” Tuchel continued. “It is clear that we need to beat the benchmark of the Premier League which is City. I am very happy, we can do that and it was a worthy victory. “
Man City continued to be the best team in the Premier League as soon as it proved a table league. but Tuchel said on Friday that Chelsea intended to “hunt” Guardiola’s team.
Saturday’s win proved that they were able to catch him.
Leave a Reply