
Photo: JAMES BAYLIS/GETTY IMAGES
With Chelsea 2-1 up at half-time, Chelsea boss Antonio Conte introduced Nemanja Matic for Kurt Zouma just before the start of the second-half, and that change was a stroke of genius as it made our midfield solid.
Prior to the change, City penetrated the Chelsea midfield with ease, but introducing Matic made Chelsea stronger in the middle.
Many thought the substitution was as a result of an injury to Kurt Zouma, but it was all tactical.
Read what Conte had to say about the substitution: “I think Kurt played a really good game but the substitution was tactical because in the first half we were suffering a lot in midfield and they were finding spaces between the lines, so I wanted to reinforce the midfield with Matic, bring Azpi into his position and play Pedro as wing-back.
“It was more offensive because your wing-back is more of a winger than a defender. In the second half we had more balance and didn’t give them chances to score. We controlled the game well.”