3. Absentees make for dull, defensive affair at the Bridge
The game at Stamford Bridge was supposed to be a title decider. A top of the table six-pointer if you will. A game between two sides who had managed close to a 100 league goals between them this season. But major absentees in both sides meant that a titanic affair that was supposed to be filled with goals and plenty of action, saw surprisingly little in the form of goalmouth action. Or in the case of Chelsea, none after they took the lead in the first half.
If you had to pick two of the most important midfielders on both sides, Fabregas and Yaya Toure would probably be the answer that you come up with. But both players were missing on Saturday, the former through injury and the latter because of international duty. And the loss of the two mid-fielders was a telling blow for both sides. For Chelsea, Fabregas’ absence meant that they no longer had a creative outlet in midfield orchestrating things and their chief set-piece taker. For City, it was the player they count on, in tough, tight games such as the one on Saturday to open the deadlock through sheer force. And while many might criticize both managers for the rather dull and disappointing game on Saturday, there was little they could have done, without their go-to players in important games.