Manchester City vs. Chelsea: Pep Guardiola, Antonio Conte React to EPL Match

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola took time to congratulate Premier League leaders Chelsea on their 3-1 win at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, before apologising for the late fracas that saw Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho sent off. 

A Gary Cahill own goal put City 1-0 up just before half-time in the day’s early kick-off, but Diego Costa, Willian and Eden Hazard struck to give Antonio Conte’s men a precious three points.

It was more or less the perfect away performance from Chelsea, and Guardiola praised their ability to stifle his players and take chances of their own, via BBC Sport:

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Congratulations to Chelsea—they won. We played really good, had a lot of control and created chances. But the ball in the box was not strong enough. Chelsea's approach was really different but that is part of the game. You don't expect Chelsea to create 25 chances. They created three and scored three.

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Seeing his side concede three times isn’t something Guardiola is used to, as Squawka Football revealed Chelsea are the first team to notch three against City under the Spaniard’s reign:

City’s misery was compounded when both Aguero and Fernandinho were given their marching orders in the dying embers of the match.

Aguero was shown a red card for a dangerous challenge on David Luiz, which the Mail on Sunday’s Oliver Holt branded worthy of two sending offs, and Fernandinho was punished for a scuffle with Fabregas in the aftermath of the challenge.

Guardiola said that although Aguero didn’t mean to cause Luiz harm, he apologised for the ugly scenes that tarnished an otherwise fantastic game, per James Robson of Manchester Evening News:

“It is a pity it finished like this. It is a pity. I apologise. He [Luiz] went down and he touched him. It wasn’t intentional. Maybe I have to understand many things here, but referee says red card so red card.”

On the other side of the camp, meanwhile, Chelsea boss Conte lauded his side’s character during an interview with Sky Sports and heaped special praise on Fabregas, via BBC Sport:

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I think today was very tough and the game was open until the end. There were lots of chances for both teams to score. I saw lots of character from my team and that's very important to grow. But we must continue to work and improve. He [Fabregas] played a good game—I know I can always count on him.

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James Baylis - AMA/Getty Images

Fabregas was making his first appearance for Chelsea since September and came up with a sensational assist for Costa’s goal that completely changed the game’s momentum.

Following the match, the Spaniard tweeted that he’s missed donning the blue shirt and encouraged his team-mates to continue their impressive run:

Chelsea’s remarkable triumph at the Etihad Stadium was their eighth consecutive league victory and issued a real statement to their Premier League title challengers.

With the likes of Costa, Hazard, Luiz, N’Golo Kante and Fabregas in such form, the Blues look like they’ll take some stopping.

Conte’s side take on West Bromwich Albion at Stamford Bridge next time out looking to make it nine wins out of nine.