Jermaine Jenas has highlighted one thing that the Manchester City players were not happy about during the first half against Chelsea.
The Blues went into the halfway point of their FA Cup semi-final tie against the west London club at 0-0, with neither side able to break the deadlock in the first period.
During the first half, one pundit, who was on commentary duty, chose to highlight one thing Chelsea were doing that the City players didn’t like.
Jenas shares one thing Chelsea did that frustrated City
Speaking on the BBC’s commentary in the first half of the game, Jenas had this to say on the matter.
He said: “Chelsea are taking way too long to play every time it goes out, whether it is a goal kick or a throw-in, they know what they are doing and City are starting to complain.”
In the first half, City had 60% possession and five shots at goal, although none of them were on target.
They also made 297 passes in total compared to Chelsea 195.
City must overcome Chelsea’s time-wasting
In terms of the time-wasting from the west London side, this says to us that they want to get the City players frustrated so it potentially forces them to rush the game and make mistakes.
Or, because City lost their penalty shootout against Real Madrid in midweek that led to them being kicked out of the Champions League, this may make Chelsea feel that a shootout on this occasion could benefit them.
Especially with Mauricio Pochettino’s side scoring more penalties (11) than any other side in the Premier League this season, this may be why they wanted to waste time in this game against the Blues.
Either way, the best thing City can do is to take their chances and take the game away from Chelsea so their time-wasting doesn’t ultimately help them get into the FA Cup final.