NUMBER THREE: Kev's clanger

Manchester City 1 Chelsea 3 - 03/12/16
De Bruyne miss gives Chelsea momentum

Arguably the game of the season came at the Etihad Stadium back in December when Manchester City took on Chelsea in a top-of-the-table clash.

From a neutral’s point of view, the lunch-time kick-off between two of the Premier League’s powerhouses well and truly delivered.

But for City it ended in disaster.

A 3-1 home defeat saw Pep Guardiola’s side slip down to fourth place, their lowest league position since the start of the season.

More significantly, the result left them four points adrift of Chelsea, who never looked like being caught for the remainder of the campaign.

To make matters worse, the hosts were reduced to nine men in stoppage time when Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho were shown straight red cards.

The game had been on a knife-edge for much of the second half and, with tensions running high, it all boiled over when Aguero committed a horrendous two-legged tackle on David Luiz.

That incident sparked an unsavoury brawl between the two sets of players, in which Fernandinho was dismissed for pushing Cesc Fabregas over an advertising board.

City’s indiscipline exposed another chink in their quickly-diminishing armour, as their title challenge began to fade.

Yet, it could all have been so different.

After taking the lead through a Gary Cahill own goal before half time, City had the chance to put the game beyond Chelsea’s reach.

The hosts had played some wonderful football, created chances and seemingly shackled Chelsea by using an identical 3-4-3 set-up.

Then the opportunity came.

In the 57th minute, David Silva dribbled the ball through the middle of the pitch before releasing Jesús Navas on the right.

The Spaniard kept the move flowing, taking an effective first touch, before sweeping a low cross past the backtracking Chelsea defenders and into the path of Kevin De Bruyne.

From two yards out, the Belgian international seemingly couldn’t miss. However, with the goal at his mercy, he cannoned the ball onto the crossbar.

A second goal for City would have left Chelsea with a mountain to climb. Instead, the visitors drew level three minutes later, when Diego Costa evaded the challenge of Nicolas Otamendi and slotted the ball past Claudio Bravo.

Goals from Willian and Eden Hazard sealed the victory for Conte’s side.

However, it was De Bruyne’s miss that changed the course of the match, as well as the title race.

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