Community Shield: Chelsea v Manchester City full-time report

Carlos Tevez (right) celebrates

Chelsea 2 Manchester City 3

Manchester City started this season as they ended the last one, and they’ll hope that the Community Shield isn’t their only trophy success of the campaign.

Goals from Yaya Toure, Carlos Tevez and Samir Nasri inside 12 second half minutes gave City victory over a battling Chelsea at Villa Park, where the FA Cup holders had Branislav Ivanovic sent off in the first half.

The Serb was given a straight red for a tackle on Aleksandr Kolarov just moments after Fernando Torres had given Chelsea the lead, with substitute Ryan Bertrand grabbing the Londoners’ consolation after City had shown their power in the second period.

With football under the microscope and told to heed lessons following the success of the London Olympics – the reason why this match was held at Villa Park – the two richest clubs in the land found themselves under scrutiny at kick-off, yet they ended up serving up the kind of blood and thunder English match which many find priceless.

Tevez was the first to rise to the fore but his curling free-kick was well saved by the diving Petr Čech, and that seemed to set the standard for a contest which carried a lot more spice than these encounters usually do.

Tackles were flying in and players sent off balance, although none more so than the Chelsea new boy Eden Hazard after his attempted flick ended with the Belgian embarrassingly missing the ball and tumbling to the ground. City’s fans let him know that they enjoyed it.

They were watching Roberto Mancini’s side experimenting with a three-man central defence, but there was nothing that the trio could do about the strike which soon gave Chelsea the lead.

The Brazilian Ramires impressed in the Chelsea midfield the longer last season went on, and when he strode towards the box he was able to pick out Torres to his right, and the forward expertly clipped a shot over the advancing City stand-in goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon.

Chelsea would have been feeling good about themselves after the goal and nobody more so than Torres, but the Blues soon crashed back down to earth when Ivanovic launched into a challenge on Kolarov barely a minute after his side took the lead. Referee Kevin Friend almost immediately produced a red card.

That led to huge protests from Chelsea supporters at half-time, and it didn’t take City long into the second half to establish their newfound dominance.

The champions broke forward down their right, but just when their attack appeared to be petering out the ball fell for Toure, who took a touch before arrowing a fine and typically powerful shot past Čech’s dive and into the net.

The tide had now officially turned and was heading squarely towards the Chelsea goal, and the 11 men of City were determined to make it count.

Only six minutes after the Toure goal they did just that, as Tevez – looking leaner and fitter than at any point during his temperamental 2011/12 – gained possession on the left edge of the box, before darting across the line and whipping a superb shot into the top corner.

One goal had become two, and would become three six minutes on when another City attack overwhelmed Chelsea and ended with the overlapping Kolarov turning in a cross from the left, and Nasri arriving to guide a shot into the net.

To Chelsea’s credit though, the 10 men kept on going and eventually found a way back into the match thanks to two of their substitutes and the generosity of the City goalkeeper, as Daniel Sturridge’s shot from distance was spilled by Pantilimon, allowing Bertrand to arrive and tuck home.

As if to underline the lack of community spirit on show in the game, Pantilimon and Bertrand clashed after the goal, but such incidents only added to the spectacle of a fine watch, which City eventually saw out despite Sergio Agüero missing a sitter in stoppage time.

Mark Jones – follow me on twitter

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