For Manchester City, the wait goes on. It was supposed to be the culmination of a 13-year project which has taken in every other benchmark of success – yet the Champions League still eludes them.
Chelsea are champions of Europe again for the second time in nine years. City played their part in their own demise, mustering just one shot on target in their inaugural final.
It fell to Kai Havertz to score the winning goal, capitalising on a visionary through ball from Mason Mount, the playmaker who has arguably been the Blues’ Player of the Season.
Thomas Tuchel, of course, has been the game-changer. When Frank Lampard was sacked in January, Chelsea’s season was at a crossroads, but the German has not only won his first European trophy just six months into his reign, he has quite possibly provided a springboard for a new era of success.
“It’s unbelievable to share it with everybody,” Tuchel told BT Sport.
“What a fight – what a tough fight. I don’t know what to feel actually. They were deserving to win this. We wanted to be the stone in their shoe.”
Chelsea won their individual battles almost to a man, though Mount, Havertz and Reece James deserved a special mention.
From Kevin De Bruyne being forced off with a nasty-looking cheek injury to Raheem Sterling’s misses, here are five performances that changed the game.
Mason Mount – 9
The playmaker created more chances than the entire City team in the first half. The question mark against the England midfielder has been whether he can deliver on the biggest stage of all and he answered it emphatically. Onto the Euros.
Timo Werner – 6
Chelsea could have been further ahead had Werner not characteristically fluffed his lines on a couple of occasions. The striker put a decent chance wide and fired another straight at Ederson. On a night when he could have wiped out the bad memories of a difficult first season at Stamford Bridge, he was taken off for Christian Pulisic in the 66th minute.
Ederson Moraes – 6
Ederson did his best to deny a flurry of shots as Chelsea dominated and nearly set up the opener with a pass over the top to Sterling, but in the clutch moment when it mattered, he burst off his line and could not stop an on-rushing Havertz from taking a touch around him and scoring the winner.
Ilkay Gundogan – 5
The midfield battle always looked like it could define City’s hopes, but Guardiola opted for a trio of Bernardo Silva, Ilkay Gundogan and Phil Foden rather than employing a conventional holder or allowing the German international to play further forward as he has so successfully this season. Fernandinho replaced him in the 64th minute, but by then it was too little, too late.
Raheem Sterling – 5
Sterling managed one shot and was hauled off by Guardiola in the second half. The forward overran some of City’s best opportunities for a breakthrough and just as has so often been the case this season, when he might have answered his manager’s call to step up and make the difference, he went missing.
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from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3wI77RA
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