Manchester City vs. Chelsea: Score and Reaction from 2015 Premier League Match

Manchester City sent out a strong message to their Premier League rivals, as they ran out comfortable 3-0 winners over Chelsea on Sunday.

Sergio Aguero had the Citizens up 1-0 at half-time before Vincent Kompany and Fernandinho killed off the game deep into the second half.

The Citizens dominated the match for large periods, as the Blues defence struggled throughout to cope with City's potent attacking threat.

City made just one change from the side that beat West Bromwich Albion 3-0 Monday, with Aguero starting ahead of Wilfried Bony, while Ramires replaced the injured Oscar in Chelsea's lineup.

The home side began with intent as Aguero raced through on goal inside the first minute, but Asmir Begovic was on hand to save the Argentinian's tepid finish with ease.

With the help of Aleksandar Kolarov, the ever-involved Aguero continued to test Begovic, forcing two more excellent saves from the Bosnian stopper.

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The sustained pressure on Chelsea's goal deservedly resulted in the home side taking the lead.

Exchanging passes with Yaya Toure on the edge of the area, Aguero danced past Chelsea's defence thanks to his notoriously quick feet and tucked the ball into the bottom left corner.

OptaJoe noted his incredible record since joining City, while football journalist Gabriele Marcotti was full of praise for the striker:

City threatened to double their lead for the remainder of the half, with Eliaquim Mangala and Kolarov both coming close.

For Chelsea, the only noteworthy action was Gary Cahill and Diego Costa requiring treatment, prompting jeers from the crowd as their medical staff—minus Eva Carneiro—tended to the players.

Eden Hazard was particularly anonymous for the visitors, as Squawka demonstrated:

The Blues improved slightly after half-time and even had the ball in the net five minutes after the restart.

Hazard showed a brief glimpse of his quality in crossing the ball to Ramires for the Brazilian to duly finish, but the midfielder was correctly adjudged to be offside.

The second half was somewhat end-to-end, with both teams countering at pace, but neither could quite create the clear-cut chances City enjoyed earlier in the game.

After being run ragged by Swansea City's Jefferson Montero in Week 1, Branislav Ivanovic again looked unusually vulnerable, with Raheem Sterling causing him some problems, as former footballer Gary Lineker noted:

Things went from bad to worse for the Serbian with just over 10 minutes of normal time remaining when he allowed Kompany to get the better of him at a corner and double City's lead.

Fernandinho completed the rout six minutes later when he capitalised on some sloppy defending to arrow a low, well-struck effort into the bottom corner from the edge of the area.

Former Premier League defender Rio Ferdinand gave his take on Chelsea's struggles:

Despite what the scoreline might suggest, one thing Chelsea can take encouragement from is Begovic's excellent performance. The stopper was steady throughout and arguably the only reason City didn't score more.

Chelsea visit West Bromwich Albion in Week 3. While one would expect the Blues to find their feet in that game and record their first win, they will need to improve markedly to replicate the stunning performances they produced last season.

Meanwhile, City face a trip to Goodison Park, taking on Everton in what's sure to be a thrilling encounter, and with Aguero looking in such red-hot form, they'll likely make it three wins out of three.

Post-Match Reaction

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho was in a defiant mood after the game, claiming his team were City's equals over 90 minutes. "The best team in the first half won the game," he said, per BBC Sport. "The best team in the second half was Chelsea for sure. We had a difficult first half, we didn't create a lot and our goalkeeper made a few important saves.

"Second half everything was different. If the 1-0 was a doubtful result at minute 70, 3-0 is completely fake. At 1-0 Chelsea were the best team for the whole second half."

Mourinho wasn't the only manager to make a bold claim.

According to BBC Sport, City coach Manuel Pellegrini said, "We always dominate Chelsea. Maybe we draw against them last year and before we lost but always we dominate Chelsea. Today we made the complete work."