The stats which explain Chelsea's win over City

It was perhaps testimony to the manner in which Chelsea played against Manchester City on Saturday that their hosts finished with just nine men.

Antonio Conte’s men made it eight Premier League wins in succession thanks to an outstanding 3-1 victory at the Etihad Stadium, during which the defensive resilience and clinical attacking that have become the Blues’ trademarks since a 3-0 defeat to Arsenal shone through.

City might have dominated the game, but they were unable to put the ball in the net, and as Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho were both dismissed late in stoppage time, the home side’s frustration was evident.

Looking purely at the statistics, this was a game that Pep Guardiola’s men should have won. They enjoyed 61 per cent of possession, controlled territory and in the process won nine corners to their opponents’ two, completed 10% more passes than the visitors and even took the lead on the stroke of half-time. It would become emblematic, though, that it required a Gary Cahill own goal for the hosts to find the net.

City were not quite their usual selves in front of goal on Saturday afternoon, as they offered 13 efforts but found the target too infrequently, particularly as they had a number of scoring chances from relatively close range. 

By contrast, Chelsea mustered only nine shots on goal, four of which found the target and three of which had the beating of goalkeeper Claudio Bravo. Remarkably, the goals from Diego Costa, Willian and Eden Hazard all beat the Chilean by finding exactly the same spot in the net, low to the goalkeeper’s right.

It was a classic Conte counterpunching display as they offered balance in their attacking options by foraying forward to an almost equal degree down the left and right. City, meanwhile, channelled much of their forward work down the right, where Jesus Navas and Kevin De Bruyne patrolled. But despite 40% of their raids emanating from the area in which their best attacking midfielder was operating, they failed to profit through goals.

Chelsea’s shrewd approach means that they ended a four-game run in which they had failed to take maximum points from City - their longest run since the conception of the Premier League. More pertinently, though, it offers perhaps the most compelling evidence yet that they have the capability to go on and win the English title this season.