Guardiola After Chelsea Loss: “We Are Not Here To Be Invincible”

What looked impossible happened today. Manchester City lost the first game in this Premier League campaign, and they did it against one of the biggest rivals, Chelsea. The final score was 2-0 for the Blues who played at their Stamford Bridge.

N’Golo Kante in 45th and David Luiz in the 78th minutes made it possible for the Blues to keep some chances of reaching the title. The match against the Sky-Blues was very important for them. If they lost it, the difference between them and the Citizens would have been 14 points.

“It was a great game, and to be honest, we were playing the best team in Europe, or the world at the moment,” David Luiz, one of the heroes of this match told the reporters after the game.

“We had a lot of humility and tried to take our chances to score. We did our plan well, it was a great game.” Luiz added.

Another hero was Chelsea’s goalkeeper Kepa, who prevented City from scoring in the first half. The guests had three superb opportunities to get the lead, but on two of them, the Spanish youngster reacted very well.

Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling didn’t have enough concentration, which is why their team left London without a single goal scored. That is the second time this season, that their high-flying offense couldn’t execute in one contest.

Then in the last minute of the first half, Eden Hazard made an assist to N’Golo Kante, who found himself alone in the middle of Man City’s box. One of the best defensive midfielders in the world sent a powerful shot, behind Ederson’s back, bringing the lead to the hosts.

N’Golo Kante powers Chelsea into the lead just before half time!

Man City’s unbeaten start to the season is under threat at Stamford Bridge… pic.twitter.com/2Z6l9vUvTz

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) December 8, 2018

“The most important is to give my best on the pitch, to play with my teammates. I’m happy when I can be on the scoresheet and I’m happy to score my second goal of the season,” said Kante following the end of the event.

City continued to dominate in the second half, only this time, Guardiola’s players didn’t have some dangerous chances. The absence of Sergio Aguero was felt all over the place, as other strikers from Man City turned out to be ineffective and without a solution against a very strong Chelsea back line.

Twelve minutes before the final whistle, David Luiz sealed the fate of the champions. After the first corner Chelsea had in this match, the Brazilian made a perfect header, forcing Ederson to take the ball out his net for the second time this Saturday.

Woooo David luiz 💙💙 #CHEMCIhttps://t.co/Myqo4XYHKL

— 𝐑𝐞𝐣𝐚 (@manusiavvi) December 8, 2018

Maurizio Sarri stated that his team did a very good job defending in the opening 45 minutes, and that they deserved to get all three points.

“Fortunately we defended very well in our half. Then we started to press a little bit better and after the first goal the match changed.” and continued. “We played very well in the last minutes of the first half and very, very well in the first 20 minutes of the second half. In the end we deserved to win.”

Pep Guardiola mentioned that his team had a lot of injured players, but he didn’t want that to be the justification for a defeat Man City suffered.

“Of course I would prefer to be with Aguero, Kevin, Mendy and everybody, but the guys made an incredible performance today. If someone can assure me that if we had them, we would have won… nobody knows.”

The Spanish manager also spoke about the fact that City didn’t lose up until now. He told the reporters that Sky-Blues are not flawless, and that they too have to lose at some point.

“We are not here to be invincible; we are here to try and be champion, to try and make one point more than our opponents.”

"Everyone wants to beat us".

Pep Guardiola speaking after a rare 2-0 defeat this evening in the Premier League.#CHEMCI pic.twitter.com/xY73fruwuS

— eir Sport (@eirSport) December 8, 2018

Currently, Liverpool has one point advantage over his club.

Manchester City will open the next round of the English Premier League against Everton at their Etihad stadium. Chelsea heads for Brighton in search of another three points which might bring them even closer to the first place.

Previously, both these teams have European obligations, Blues in Hungary against Mol Vidi in Europa League, and City in the Champions League against Hoffenheim.