Aguero haunts Chelsea again: Five things learned as Man City win 2018 Community Shield

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Manchester City won the Community Shield for the fifth time, beating Chelsea 2-0 at Wembley.

Sergio Aguero opened the scoring for the Premier League champions after just 13 minutes, with a well-taken finish from just outside the area.

And the Argentine doubled City’s lead after half-time as Chelsea pressed for an equaliser to put an end to the contest.

The win sees City move sixth outright on the list of Community Shield winners with five, while Chelsea join Manchester United in having lost the most (nine).

Here are five things we learned from the Premier League’s curtain-raiser.

1. Aguero continues to haunt Chelsea

In 2009 Chelsea had been linked with a move for Sergio Aguero, then at Atletico Madrid, but a deal never went through for a mixture of reasons – including Didier Drogba’s presence at Stamford Bridge. How Chelsea will be regretting that move now.

With City dominating the early stages of the game, Aguero was given the ball on the edge of the area by Phil Foden. He easily wrong-footed Antonio Rudiger and placed a low shot past Willy Caballero.

It was his 11th goal against the Blues, nine of which have come in a Manchester City shirt, and sixth in his past six matches against Chelsea.

The effort also, finally, saw the Argentine score his 200th goal for City in his 293rd game having last found the net against Arsenal at the end of February.

And roughly the same length into the second half he scored his 12th against Chelsea, after being played in well by Mahrez.

And he should have scored his 201st early in the second half having beaten Chelsea’s offside trap well but could only put his shot into the side netting having partially beaten Caballero.

2. New number, same problems for Morata

In the week leading up to the match, Chelsea striker Alvaro Morata switched his squad number from 9 to 29 to celebrate the birth of his twin sons of July 29.

The news brought up talks of a potential curse at Chelsea of players donning the number 9, with the likes of Fernando Torres, Radamel Falcao, Steve Sidwell and Khalid Boulahrouz all proving unspectacular in the shirt.

Last season was not the best for Morata under Antonio Conte and the Spaniard had been linked with a move away from the club in the summer after just one year.

But it was new number, same problems for Morata as he cut an isolated figure against a tough Manchester City side.

The Spaniard looked bereft of confident once more, was often pushed off the ball with ease by City’s players and failed to impose himself in a vein similar to Diego Costa and Didier Drogba at Chelsea.

In his 70 minutes on the pitch, Morata had just 20 touches on the ball, attempted 11 passes (completing 10) and took one shot – which was off target.

3. Phil Foden wins the battle of the teenagers

When the team news was initially announced an hour before kick-off, fans of both sides as well as neutrals were excited to see Phil Foden starting for City and Callum Hudson-Odoi lining up for Chelsea.

Both teenagers had been part of England’s U17 World Cup win last year and look to be on the verge of breaking through at their respective teams for the season ahead.

On this particular occasion, it was Foden who came out on top, playing a part in City’s X-X win at Wembley. The youngster looked composed in midfield as was key in setting up Aguero’s opener, after he ran at the Chelsea defence before playing in the Argentine.

Foden should have had another assist too, as his brilliant pass found Aguero in on goal but the Argentine’s finish was poor. No player created more chances than Foden’s three during his time on the pitch.

But that is not to say Hudson-Odoi was poor, as the 17-year-old proved to be Chelsea’s biggest threat at times but was up against one of the best right-backs in the Premier League in Kyle Walker.

4. Bernardo Silva proves he can play anywhere

Bernardo Silva has been tested in many positions for Manchester City since joining last season, but Pep Guardiola may have found his best in the first half against Chelsea.

Playing in a midfield three alongside Phil Foden and Fernandinho, Silva took on the role his namesake David Silva had made his own at City, causing problems to the opposition defence from deeper on the pitch.

And this is what made him more of a danger, as he slipped through the cracks left by Cesc Fabregas and Ross Barkley either side of Jorginho, pushing up to join the likes of Riyad Mahrez, Leroy Sane and Aguero.

Kevin De Bruyne will return to the Premier League champions soon after his third-placed finish with Belgium at the World Cup and will undoubted take one of the spots in the midfield trio – most likely Foden’s. But Silva has certainly made his case to fill the other role ahead of David Silva and Ilkay Gundogan.

5. Chelsea need a left-back

Marcos Alonso did so well for Chelsea as a wing-back under Antonio Conte, especially during his first season.

But last year, despite scoring seven goals in the Premier League, the Spaniard regressed and under Maurizio Sarri his time may be up.

While a commendable wing-back, Alonso is certainly not a left-back and his weaknesses were exposed against City on Sunday.

Eager to attack, the Spaniard often left gaps open in defence which City could exploit on the counter attack. This was most evident for their second goal as Mahrez had the freedom of the wing to push the Chelsea defence with Alonso nowhere to be seen.

If Sarri wants to keep with his favoured 4-3-3 formation, and he probably will, Chelsea need to look into buying a new left-back who can defend as well as attack on the Italian’s favoured side.

They have four days.

The post Aguero haunts Chelsea again: Five things learned as Man City win 2018 Community Shield appeared first on Squawka News.



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