London, Jan. 15 (BNA) Kevin De Bruyne scored an overwhelming goal as Manchester City boosted its lead in the English Premier League to 13 points with a 1-0 victory over second-placed Chelsea.
A hotly contested match featured at Etihad Stadium on Saturday 20 minutes before the end as De Bruyne came in decisively, according to the Associated Press.
Chelsea didn’t see much of the ball but had their chances to score as well, with Romelu Lukaku and Hakim Ziyech missing on the counter-attack particularly.
Pep Guardiola’s City have so far won 12 league games and it’s hard to see how they can be prevented from winning back-to-back titles in May.
City dominated most of the first half but were grateful for poor decision-making and execution by Lukaku and Ziyech on two occasions as Chelsea seemed to respond early.
The hosts’ best chance came in the first 45 minutes when Jack Grealish fired with an effective high pressure on goal, but Kepa Arrizabalaga blocked his shot with his left foot.
The visitors were supposed to take the lead two minutes into the second half when Lukaku was sent off by Mateo Kovacic, but Ederson parried his shot before Ziyech hoisted the rebound over the crossbar.
The league leaders finally broke the tie in the 70th minute when former Chelsea’s De Bruyne chipped in from the left side before an expert shot past Arrizabalaga’s desperate dive from 22 yards.
The Blues tried to find the equalizer, but City showed the solidity of his team to collect the three points, to come close to an important step in lifting the English Premier League trophy again.
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