When the dust settles on a tempestuous match, the finger-pointing
stops and the bans are handed out, perhaps this will be the occasion
when Chelsea
made it clear their title aspirations are authentic. They rode their
luck at times – discounting the own goal from Gary Cahill – and their
opponents were entitled to be aggrieved about some of the refereeing
decisions. Yet nobody could question the endurance of Antonio Conte’s
men, their competitive courage and the tactical acumen of their manager.
Unfortunately for them, the occasion will be remembered more for the
collective lack of discipline in stoppage time when City, to put it
bluntly, lost the plot. Sergio Agüero, having already served one
suspension this season, can expect a four-game ban after his scything
red-card challenge on David Luiz. That, however, told only part of the
story as the two sets of players clashed by the touchline and
Fernandinho could be in serious trouble after reacting to some
provocation from Cesc Fàbregas by grabbing him by the neck, levering him
towards the crowd and eventually pushing him over the advertising
hoardings almost into the laps of the front row of spectators.
