Two shades of Blue: Man City breathing down Arsenal’s neck, Chelsea slipping away from top

It was expected that Manchester City would capitalize on Arsenal dropping points after their defeat to Aston Villa earlier today, and they did exactly that with a 3–0 win over Sunderland. On the other hand, Chelsea failed to pull themselves out of their poor run and instead extended it with a 0–0 draw away at Bournemouth.

Manchester City and Sunderland opened the match quietly, with almost nothing of note in the first ten minutes. The first real glimpse of danger came in the 11th minute, when Bernardo Silva found enough space on the edge of the box to shoot, but his effort sailed over the bar.

Two minutes later, in the 13th minute, Ryan Cherki capped off a well-worked City move on the opposition’s half, though his attempt was poor and drifted wide. Sunderland responded in the 16th minute with their first effort of the game: Le Fee took advantage of the generous space left by City’s defense, but his shot also went wide of Donnarumma’s goal.

City then created their best sequence of chances up to that point in the 18th minute. Phil Foden found himself in two promising situations within 30 seconds—first narrowly missing from close range inside the six-yard box, and then sending a long-range effort wide from about 20 meters.

The deadlock was finally broken in the 31st minute. Ruben Dias ended the lull at the Etihad with a brilliant strike from nearly 25 meters. The ball took a slight deflection off a Sunderland defender on its way in, but the goal stood and gave City a deserved 1–0 lead. The goal is HERE!

Just four minutes later, in the 35th minute, City doubled their advantage. After a corner kick, Josko Gvardiol rose highest in the box and powered a header past the Sunderland goalkeeper, making it 2–0 for the hosts and giving City firm control heading into halftime. The goal is HERE!

The second half began quietly, with the first attempt coming in the 50th minute as O’Reilly tried his luck for Sunderland, though his effort was poor and drifted wide.

Two minutes later, Manchester City came inches away from extending their lead. Jeremy Doku produced a brilliant solo run before curling a shot from the edge of the box toward the far corner, only for the ball to crash off the post. The rebound fell to Phil Foden, whose follow-up looked destined for the net, but Ballard made a crucial block to deny a certain goal.

Barely a minute later, in the 53rd, Sunderland nearly punished City at the other end. A huge defensive mistake by Ruben Dias gifted the ball to Isidor, who went one-on-one with Donnarumma, but the City goalkeeper came up with a superb save to keep his clean sheet intact.

Sunderland hit the woodwork again in the 55th minute. From the right edge of the penalty area, Hume fired a low shot that struck the left post of Donnarumma’s goal, as the visitors continued to threaten.

City eventually put the match to bed in the 66th minute with a sensational goal for 3–0. Ryan Cherki produced a moment of pure brilliance — twisting past several Sunderland defenders before delivering a rabona cross into the box, where Phil Foden headed home to complete the move in style. The goal and assist are HERE!

Cherki remained lively and tested the Sunderland goalkeeper again in the 76th minute after a solo run down the right, but his effort was saved.

In the 95th minute, we also saw a red card after a VAR review, when O’Nien made a horrible challenge on Matheus Nunes and was shown a straight red

BOURNEMOUTH - CHELSEA

On the other side, Chelsea arrived in Bournemouth with six changes from their previous Premier League match — the most Enzo Maresca has made between league games this season — as he looked for a reaction after a poor midweek performance against Leeds. But despite the tactical shake-up, it was Bournemouth who started far brighter.

In the 4th minute, the hosts thought they had the perfect start. A messy sequence in Chelsea’s box ended with Evanilson causing chaos, Chalobah failing to clear properly, and Semenyo finishing unmarked from close range. However, after a VAR review, the goal was ruled out: Evanilson had been offside when Scott delivered the ball into the box.

Just two minutes later, Bournemouth continued to press forward. Tavernier unleashed a powerful effort from the edge of the area that Sanchez parried, and Kluivert reacted fastest to the rebound before being clipped by Reece James — but any penalty claims were immediately halted by the offside flag.

Chelsea managed one of their few moments in attack in the 20th minute, when Cucurella met a lofted cross from Neto at the back post, only to head over the bar.

The match then took a worrying turn for Chelsea in the 30th minute. From a Bournemouth corner, Delap and Senesi grappled in the box, with Delap ultimately pulling Senesi down. Senesi landed heavily on the Chelsea striker, leaving Delap clutching his shoulder. The forward walked straight down the tunnel, his afternoon over — likely with a painful shoulder injury to show for it.

Bournemouth should have taken the lead in the 36th minute. Semenyo burst down the left side of the box and drilled a cross-shot toward the far post, where Evanilson slid in. Somehow, the striker failed to turn the ball into the net, dragging it off target from close range.

The hosts kept pushing. Tavernier tried an ambitious long-range strike in the 41st minute but sent it high, and deep into stoppage time he split Chelsea’s midfield with a superb through ball that launched Bournemouth into another dangerous attack. Scott forced Sanchez into an important save to keep Chelsea level, as the visitors desperately awaited the halftime whistle.

Bournemouth started the second half on the front foot, with Tavernier trying his luck in the 49th minute after combining well with Kluivert and Semenyo, but he dragged his effort well wide. Moments later, Chelsea finally produced a shot on target, as Petrovic got down sharply at his near post to deny Neto.

Chelsea continued to build momentum, and in the 50th minute they came inches away from taking the lead. Garnacho met Neto’s cross at the back post, but his header glanced the outside of the post. The visitors kept pushing: Fernandes forced another save from Petrovic in the 51st minute, and just a minute later Palmer tested the Bournemouth keeper again with a strike from distance.

Guiu added to Chelsea’s flurry of attempts shortly after, but his shot was again dealt with by Petrovic. The match was then interrupted by yet another setback for Bournemouth defender Senesi, who went down for the second time since injuring himself in a first-half challenge on Garnacho. He was unable to continue and was replaced by Hill.

Chelsea kept searching for a breakthrough, and in the 71st minute Garnacho cut inside onto his right foot and sent a powerful effort narrowly wide of the far post — struck cleanly, but off target.

Bournemouth responded strongly in the closing stages. In the 80th minute, Semenyo unleashed a rocket from the edge of the box, forcing Sanchez to parry it behind for a corner with both hands. The winger’s strike carried tremendous power, reminding Chelsea they were far from safe.

PREMIER LEAGUE - MATCHDAY 15

Saturday

Aston Villa - Arsenal 2-1 (1-0)

/Cash 36, Buendia 90+5 - Trossard 52/

Bournemouth - Chelsea 0-0

Everton - Nott. Forest 3-0 (2-0)

/Milenkovic 2 (og), Barry 45+3, Dewsbury-Hall 80/

Man. City - Sunderland 3-0 (2-0)

/Dias 31, Gvardiol 35, Foden 65/

Newcastle - Burnley 2-1 (2-0)

/Guimaraes 31, Gordon 45+8 pen - Flemming 90+4 pen/

Tottenham - Brentford 2-0 (2-0)

/Richarlison 25, Simons 43/

20.30: (4.20) Leeds (4.00) Liverpool (1.85)

Sunday

17.00: (1.60) Brighton (4.35) West Ham (5.70)

19.30: (2.55) Fulham (3.25) Crystal Palace (2.85)

Monday

23.00: (4.60) Wolverhampton (3.60) Man.Utd. (1.80)

***odds are subject to change***