Man City singing in the rain as Chelsea are left singing the Blues following defeat at the Etihad

City are too silky even for their closest rivals

It’s one thing to run rings around a team desperately trying to stave off relegation, but the fact City were able to exert their easy on the eye, free-flowing brand of football on the reigning champions of England is mightily impressive.

The title race was over long before Sunday’s encounter yet fans of the other challengers (it seems strange to even suggest City have peers) or neutrals might have hoped for a stirring Chelsea showing to at least give City a run for their money. Instead, the hosts had free rein from the off and the visitors offered little other than defending manfully.

City’s big hitters predictably controlled proceedings, but Chelsea’s talisman was a bystander. While Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and David Silva roamed across the pitch looking for holes to exploit and enjoyed 41, 87 and 63 touches respectively in the first half alone, Eden Hazard was afforded just 12 – the joint fewest of any player on the field… alongside City stopper Ederson.

Silva proving to be just as valuable as his namesake

It seems strange to think that Bernardo Silva only really got his chance in the City starting 11 when Leroy Sane went down injured in January. Sane wasn’t on the sidelines for as long as first feared and when he returned it was expected the Portuguese schemer would just as quickly return to the bench.

Instead he has benefitted from an injury to another teammate, Raheem Sterling, and he is thriving. The Benfica graduate has played the full 90 minutes (89 against Cardiff in the FA Cup) in eight of his last nine games, impressively recording three assists and two goals in that run. Sane has returned and has been equally as sparkling, sparking debate now as to how can Pep Guardiola shunt Silva to the bench when Sterling returns to the fold.

Roaming up and down the right flank in the pouring rain against Chelsea, he caused a deluge of problems for both Antonio Rudiger and Marcos Alonso.

Aguero shows he can be deadly even when he doesn’t score

All did not seem right with Sergio Aguero before Christmas as the Argentine struggled to adapt to the rigors of the Guardiola regime. The man who became City’s all-time leading scorer earlier in the season was struggling to cope with the fact his phenomenal past achievements didn’t seem good enough for the Spaniard.

But all appears well now, with Aguero’s efforts to adapt his game over the past year for Guardiola finally garnering praise and recognition. His 15 goals in 2018 are only two shy of his tally in the first half of the season, while he’s only one shy of matching his four assists too.

And it is his work rate and ferocious appetite rather than his goalscoring prowess that was immensely invaluable to his team in victory here. He roamed from flank to flank, pulling Chelsea defenders this way and that and chased balls into corners, keeping his head on a swivel to bring teammates into play. Teed up David Silva to cross for Bernardo Silva to score the crucial goal.