Chelsea fought bravely and gave their all but fell at home 1-0 to Manchester City in what is no doubt the headliner fixture in world football this weekend. City further cemented their Premier League title bonafides, as they took all three points to stay on top of the table with rivals Manchester United.
Chelsea began the week as underdogs for this one, but became slight favorites following their very impressive midweek showing in the UEFA Champions League against Atletico Madrid. However, they ended up losing more than just the game, as their star striker and club record transfer signing Alvaro Morata went down with an injury.
However, there is good news at Stamford Bridge- he won’t be out too long and he has the long international break to recover.
“It’s a muscular problem. I don’t think it’s a serious problem because he stopped before it will become a serious injury,” Chelsea Manager Antonio Conte said regarding Alvaro Morata after the match.
“He said to me ‘coach I prefer to stop myself otherwise I risk a bad injury.’ I don’t know. The doctor now in the next days has to check the situation, but I don’t think he’s available for the (Spanish) national team.”
When asked to assess the game overall, Conte said he was of course disappointed by the outcome was very pleased by the effort.
“For sure there is disappointment for the result, but I think at the same time I’m pleased, I’m pleased for the commitment of my players,” said Conte.
“Today we gave everything. After a game you can win or you can lose, but I think the most important thing is to see that your players give you everything,” he continued.
“We played against a really good team. We created chances to score. We didn’t take it. City created a chance and were very good to take the chances to score.
“In this type of game it’s very important to score first. Great compliments to Manchester City.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now and Minute Media. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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