Manchester City beat Chelsea 3-0 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday to go third in the Premier League table.
The visitors controlled the first half on Saturday evening and went ahead through Sergio Aguero on 33 minutes, although the forward’s effort was aided by a deflection off Gary Cahill.
The Argentina international finished a City counter-attack for his second, and sealed his hat-trick from the penalty spot after Fernandinho was tripped by Thibaut Courtois, with the Chelsea goalkeeper sent off as a result.
The victory moves City above Arsenal, who host Crystal Palace on Super Sunday, while Chelsea remain 10th with just one win from their last eight Premier League home games.
Both managers made four changes for the match, and in a frantic opening, both had opportunities to break the deadlock.
Strong defending from Cahill prevented Aguero from tapping home after just three minutes, before Nicolas Otamendi cleared Pedro’s goal-bound shot off the line with Joe Hart beaten.
Diego Costa had the ball in the net for Chelsea shortly after but was correctly adjudged offside, and after weathering the early pressure, City stamped their authority on the game.
Courtois twice denied the visitors one-on-one, as Kevin De Bruyne and Samir Nasri saw efforts saved by the Chelsea goalkeeper.
But the hosts did not heed the warnings and fell behind to a rapid City counter.
With Chelsea on the back foot, only a last-ditch tackle from Cahill prevented Aguero from doubling City’s lead two minutes before the break.
The Blues started the second half brightly as they searched for a route back into the match, but were caught on the break again as City extended their advantage nine minutes after half-time.
The impressive De Bruyne, returning to his former club, was involved before Nasri found Aguero, who made no mistake for his 20th league goal of the season.
He didn’t have to wait long for his 21st, as City made the game safe from the spot with 10 minutes to play. Fernandinho broke into the Chelsea area and was upended by Courtois, leaving referee Mike Dean no choice but to issue the red card and award a penalty.
Aguero, who missed against Paris Saint-Germain in midweek, sent substitute goalkeeper Asmir Begovic the wrong way to seal his hat-trick.
Chelsea had felt hard done by six minutes before City’s third, when referee Dean waved away a penalty appeal after Kenedy appeared to be tripped by De Bruyne in the area.
Following the defeat to Swansea, Saturday’s loss marks the first time Guus Hiddink has lost two league games in a row as a club manager since February 2004, when he was in charge of PSV Eindhoven.
Meanwhile, City head to St James’ Park to face Newcastle on Tuesday full of confidence after following up their Champions League win with another strong performance, and now sit four points clear of fifth-placed Manchester United in the race for a top-four place. – Skysports.
