Manchester City 3 Chelsea 0: Mourinho's side crushed as Aguero, Kompany and Fernandinho seal comfortable victory

Super Sergio: Aguero celebrates finally getting City's opener
James Olley16 August 2015

Manchester City opened up a five-point lead over Premier League title rivals Chelsea after Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany and Fernandinho earned the hosts a 3-0 win at the Etihad Stadium.

Aguero’s sublime 32nd-minute strike capped a commanding first half display and although the Blues improved marginally after the interval, Kompany headed home David Silva’s 80th-minute corner to doule their advantage before Fernandinho rifled home a late third.

There are just two games of the season played and clearly plenty of time to recover but Mourinho will be concerned at another substandard display which leaves Chelsea five points behind both Manchester clubs, less than three months after they won the title by an eight-point margin.

Cheered on by a crowd bolstered by the expansion of the South Stand, taking the capacity close to 55,000, City were superb throughout as Mourinho lost only his second League game against City in 11 attempts.

The Portuguese made two changes from Chelsea’s opening day draw to Swansea - both of which were enforced - with goalkeeper Asmir Begovic making his full debut in place of the suspended Thibaut Courtois and Ramires deputising in midfield for injury-victim Oscar.

Player Ratings: Manchester City vs Chelsea

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For City, Aguero was restored to the starting line-up at the expense of Wilfried Bony after playing just 27 minutes of Monday’s 3-0 win at West Brom.

The 27-year-old returned to City’s pre-season later than the majority of his team-mated having been engaged at the Copa America with Argentina - who lost the final on penalties to Chile - and his lack of sharpness was evident inside the first 30 seconds.

Almost straight from the kick-off, Silva slipped a ball in behind Chelsea’s defence and suddenly Aguero was clean through on goal. Begovic came out and repelled the shot well but Aguero lacked his customary conviction in such situations, affording the goalkeeper a chance to settle his nerves.

The opening period quickly developed into a duel between Aguero and Begovic. A smart turn and snapshot inside the box forced Begovic into a sharp one-handed save low to his left, a save he would repeat almost identically barely a minute later when Aguero tried a first-time effort from Navas’ right-wing cross.

Alexsandar Kolarov then delivered a whipped, dipping cross from the opposite flank which John Terry misjudged in the air as Aguero stole in behind him but he could only sidefoot a first-time effort wide of Chelsea’s goal.

He would not be denied for much longer, converting arguably the most difficult chance of the lot. Toure fed Aguero in the penalty area and he turned expertly, evading Gary Cahill with typical grace before guiding a delicate left-foot finish past Begovic.

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The build-up had been dominated by Mourinho’s decision to demote club doctors Eva Carniero and Jon Fearn from matchday duties following a row over their decision to treat Eden Hazard towards the end of the Swansea game.

Replacements Chris Hughes and Steven Hughes were given a huge cheer by gleeful home supporters as they ran on shortly before half-time to treat Gary Cahill. “You’re getting sacked in the morning,” chanted City supporters, who then broke into a quick burst of “Eva! Eva! Eva!”

The badinage increased further when Diego Costa went down shortly afterwards following a collision with Fernandinho. Mourinho waved his medical staff onto the pitch but they were both still treating Cahill’s bloodied nose, much to the delight of the crowd revelling in City’s authoritative first-half display.

Costa was furious, believing Fernandinho had elbowed him but Chelsea were lucky not to be 2-0 down at the interval as Eliaquim Mangala headed Kolarov’s free-kick wide with Begovic stranded.

Mourinho responded by withdrawing captain Terry at half-time with Kurt Zouma replacing him.

Ramires had the ball in the net just after the interval but although his effort was ruled out for offside, it reflected a degree of improvement from the visitors.

Their big chance came 20 minutes from the end. Costa did well to escape the attentions of City’s backline before cutting back and poking the ball to Eden Hazard, who jinked onto his right foot and unleashed a close-range effort Joe Hart blocked resolutely.

Kompany made them pay. Silva’s corner found its way towards Kompany at the near post and the City captain escaped the attentions of Branislav Ivanovic to head past Begovic.

Cesc Fabregas then carelessly gave the ball away and it ricocheted across to Fernandinho, who smashed home a third to complete a miserable afternoon for Chelsea.

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