There were bizarre scenes at the Etihad Stadium as Chelsea literally completed a smash and grab victory over Manchester City. The fact that they smashed and grabbed thrice and emerged 3-1 winners is a completely different thing, though. And there is a feeling that after this Chelsea win, there will have to be something very special for any team to stop them from winning the title.
The build-up of the game was akin to a Manchester derby and with the talent and class at their disposal, why not? And the fans and spectators who were rooting for an entertaining match got more than their share and what they had signed up for.
The match had almost everything and while the fracas at the end did take away a lot from the level of football on display, it did raise a lot of talking points in light of the decisions and the possible repercussions.
As expected it was a match of intensity and quality but initially what caught the eye, along with an on-the-edge action was the performance of the referee. Anthony Taylor was in the eye of the storm especially at half time as he had to make some contentious decisions in the run of play which was incidentally all in favour of the visiting side.
While there has been a talk of inconsistent refereeing again this season and the quality has also been questioned, what the City fans saw today in the first 90 minutes would have only added to the open wounds they had to deal with in the match.
While many Manchester City fans would be complaining about the supposed Manchester United fan, Anthony Taylor, truth be told they had only themselves to blame.
Yes, the decisions that were waved on could have been given on some other day and possibly on the day by other referees but City have fallen into a dreadful pattern, especially at home where they are just not being able to finish the match. City have to change their defence and fast.
Twitter reacted as expected and while the alleged refereeing indiscretions were overshadowed by the Royal Rumble at the end, it did find its place amongst the followers.
Absolute shocker from Red Anthony Taylor gets overlooked by another shocker from Aguero. #RoyalRumble #CHEMCI
— Sourav Bhakat (@bhakatsrv) December 3, 2016
Chelsea players look good, Man City players look…… angry? #MCFCvCFC
— Amit Mishra (@Leamitmishra) December 3, 2016
Manchester City vs Chelsea in last few mins… pic.twitter.com/hdSRLuoBYN
— Premier League Bible (@PremBible) December 3, 2016
Everyone who has Sergio Aguero in their Fantasy PL team: pic.twitter.com/mP68N8UKtp
— Bleacher Report UK (@br_uk) December 3, 2016
Hahahahahahaha this ref… How did Luiz not get sent off, booked or even a foul given against him #MCICHE
— Kyle Archer (@KyleG51) December 3, 2016
Looool Luiz should’ve been sent off there ????????????????????
— ???? (@A_Nuur7) December 3, 2016
it feels like forever since chelsea was a massive threat to manchester city in their own stadium. #chelseafc #KTBFFH
— V!N$M¤K€~ (@Mista_Epul95) December 3, 2016
