Alvarez fires champions Manchester City to comfortable victory over beleaguered Chelsea
Thanks to Arsenal’s defeat at Nottingham Forest on Saturday, City took to the field in celebratory mood. As such, Pep Guardiola deployed a heavily-rotated side, but his fringe players were keen to try and give their manager a dilemma ahead of the UEFA Champions League and FA Cup finals.
In fact, it took the Citizens less than 15 minutes to take the lead, as Cole Palmer’s deft ball found Julian Alvarez, who made no mistake when firing beyond Kepa Arrizabalaga and into the corner.
In spite of the numerous changes, City looked dangerous all over the pitch, and as Guardiola’s men began to purr, there was a growing sense a second goal wasn’t too far away.
Phil Foden looked like he would double his side’s advantage when he latched onto Kalvin Phillips’ measured pass, but his lofted effort dropped agonisingly wide of the post.
The champions were almost made to rue that missed opportunity, though, as moments later, former City man Raheem Sterling raced clear on goal, only to see his effort saved by Stefan Ortega.
The visitors also struck the post through Conor Gallagher’s header, but the City still had their noses in front at the interval.
City looked a little disjointed after the break, with Lewis Hall twice testing the resilience of Ortega, but Chelsea were swiftly reminded of City’s threat when Phillips’ header struck the woodwork.
The game was almost wrapped up 20 minutes from time but, as Riyad Mahrez ghosted in behind and squared for Alvarez to tap home his second of the afternoon, a brief VAR check showed the Algerian had controlled the ball with his arm.
The decision proved to be immaterial in the grand scheme of things, however, as City comfortably held on to secure a 12th successive league victory.
For Chelsea, the result means they will finish in the bottom half of the table for the first time since 1996, although this performance was far from their worst in what has been a terrible campaign by their standards.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Phil Foden (Manchester City)
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