Chelsea loss highlights defensive problems

After a poor defensive performance during the 3-0 loss at Manchester City, is it time for Jose Mourinho to invest in a younger back four?

"I've never seen them this disjointed" stated Gary Neville, who was watching a Chelsea side struggle to cope with Manchester City's ferocious attacking threat throughout a gripping clash at the Etihad Stadium. City's danger was evident from the offset, with Sergio Aguero almost opening the scoring within the first two minutes after David Silva had expertly sliced through a flimsy Chelsea defence, only for the Argentine to be thwarted by an onrushing Asmir Begovic - which would become a recurring theme in the first 30 minutes. The former Stoke stopper pulled off two more excellent saves with just 17 minutes on the clock, as City ran rampant over an unrecognisably petrified Chelsea side. Their famous defensive shape completely deserted them, with Aguero firing off four shots in the opening half-an-hour - an interesting statistic considering that no player had more than five on goal in a game this season. Last week's draw with Swansea showed Branislav Ivanovic and Cesar Azpilicueta's inability to attack their opposing full-backs, while the central defensive partnership of John Terry and Gary Cahill was highly prone to leaving space behind for attackers to exploit. Manuel Pellegrini's men drew up their masterplan, and they executed it with brilliant ease. Terry's half time substitution - the first time he has ever been replaced under Jose Mourinho - represented the Portuguese boss' willingness to withdraw anyone from the pitch in order to seek a result - but even the arrival of the pacier Kurt Zouma did nothing to prevent further City dominance, who targeted the usually rock-solid Ivanovic. The Serbian has been an ever-present in recent years, but he could be next on Mourinho's hit-list following his worryingly poor start to the season. After taking a caning from Swansea's Jefferson Montero last Saturday, Ivanovic was often found sprinting after City's Raheem Sterling - who surged past the 31-year-old with baffling ease on several occasions. Not only did he fail to contain the electrifying Sterling, but his inability to do the simple things will cause the greatest concern. Vincent Kompany muscled off Ivanovic to double City's lead, while the Serb was at fault for the third goal - needlessly giving the ball away just yards outside of his own area. It seems bizarre and a bit alien to question Chelsea's usually-robust defence, but does the defeat warrant an overhaul in the Chelsea back four? The withdrawal of Terry, Cahill's shoddy first-half performance and Ivanovic's struggles suggest that it may be time to invest in a younger, fresher defence before it's too late. Less than half an hour after the game, the Blues confirmed the deal of left-back Baba Rahman from Augsburg, which could see Azpilicueta move into right-back - a position in which he has spent the majority of his career in - while the summer-long pursuit of John Stones continues to drag on. Everton's chiefs will undoubtedly be delighted onlookers, with Chelsea now likely to return for Stones with a bid that might reek of desperation - giving the Toffees more leverage on the negotiation table. A critical two weeks awaits, with the transfer window nearing a close. Will Mourinho stick with his reliable troops? Or will he deploy a new system come September? Only time will tell.

Manchester City 3-0 Chelsea

The Blues were rarely in the same league as their hosts at the Etihad Stadium, Sergio Aguero setting the tone before Vincent Kompany and Fernandinho's second-half goals BET=WBA55$DRAW39.3$Chelsea FcCHE16.7$BonanzaWinManchester City continued a strong start to the Premier League season with a thoroughly convincing 3-0 victory against reigning champions Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium. Restored to the starting XI, Sergio Aguero looked short of sharpness as he missed early chances before finally burying one midway through the first half. Chelsea's distance behind a dominant City side was underlined by the substitution of captain John Terry at half-time but it brought no significant upturn in their fortunes and Vincent Kompany scored for the second consecutive game with a near-post header to settle it for Manuel Pellegrini's side. With the Blues tamed, Fernandinho added insult to injury in the 84th minute as he finished off a vibrant team move by firing a clean shot through a crowded penalty box. Asmir Begovic came into the Chelsea starting XI for the suspended Thibaut Courtois as one of two changes to the side who drew 2-2 with Swansea City last time out and the former Stoke City goalkeeper was called into action inside the opening minute when Aguero - in for Wilfried Bony as City's only alteration - was sent clean through on goal by David Silva. The Argentine failed to find a way past Begovic and Jesus Navas drilled wide from the rebound. Begovic was making a promising start to his full Chelsea debut and got down brilliantly to his left to keep out another Aguero strike on 16 minutes, before pulling off an almost identical save from the same man a minute later. GOALOPTA REVIEW All the stats from Manchester City 3-0 Chelsea As encouraged as Mourinho will have been by the early performance of his stand-in keeper, the fact that he saw as much action as he did in the opening 20 minutes will have given the Chelsea boss some cause for concern. And the Portuguese's worst fears were realised in the 31st minute when Aguero and Yaya Toure exchanged passes on the edge of the box - the former tying up Gary Cahill in knots and guiding a low effort beyond Begovic into the bottom-left corner. Cesc Fabregas - making his 50th Chelsea appearance - fired just wide as the visitors chased an equaliser and, after making such a positive start, Begovic found himself responsible for giving Cahill a bloodied nose as he attempted to punch clear an Aleksandar Kolarov free kick in the 44th minute. The first appearance of Chelsea's medical staff on the pitch prompted a chorus of ironic cheers and chants of "Eva, Eva, Eva" from the home fans, a result of the row over the controversial demotions of Eva Carneiro and Jon Fearn after the Swanse game. Tempers flared as the players left the pitch for half-time, with Diego Costa feeling aggrieved after being caught by the flailing arm of Fernandinho. Mourinho replaced Terry with Kurt Zouma for the second half - the first time that he has substituted his captain in the Premier League - and Ramires thought that he had pulled Chelsea level five minutes in but the linesman raised his flag for a marginal offside as the Brazilian obliviously wheeled off in celebration. Chelsea pressed higher up in the second period and could have restored parity after 70 minutes when the ball found its way to the feet of Eden Hazard in the box following a counterattack, but the Belgian fired straight at goalkeeper Joe Hart. The visitors then fell further behind as Kompany outmuscled Branislav Ivanovic to double City's advantage with a goal similar to the one that he scored at West Brom on Monday. And the rout was complete five minutes from time - Fernandinho rifling home from the edge of the area as Chelsea's defenders switched off. Costa hit the post in stoppage time but even a goal would have done nothing to spoil City's day.

Crystal Palace 1-2 Arsenal: Delaney own goal gets Gunners up and running

The Gunners recovered from their opening-day defeat to pick up maximum points against Alan Pardew's side at Selhurst Park

Arsenal secured their first win of the Premier League season after a Damien Delaney own goal granted them maximum points against London rivals Crystal Palace. Having been pegged back before half-time, Arsenal – beaten by West Ham on the opening day – secured all three points just before the hour as Delaney handed the visitors their sixth successive win over Palace. Olivier Giroud netted his first of the campaign after 16 minutes to give Arsene Wenger's side the lead with a superb finish, before Joel Ward recorded the second Premier League goal of his career to level things up. Arsenal's advantage was restored 10 minutes into the second half as Delaney diverted Alexis Sanchez's header beyond Alex McCarthy. Home debutant Connor Wickham wasted a late chance to earn Palace a point, while the introduction of loanee Patrick Bamford preceded a late rally in which Jordon Mutch and Ward went close. But Arsenal held firm to get their first points of the campaign, helping to atone for the 2-0 home reverse against West Ham. Loading... Keen to put that result quickly behind them, Arsenal made a positive start and saw Giroud and Sanchez both denied inside 10 minutes by crucial defensive blocks. With Arsenal's early dominance the opening goal seemed inevitable and duly arrived after 16 minutes as Giroud's superb acrobatic volley found the bottom-left corner from Mesut Ozil's precise delivery. A second looked likely as Wenger's side – who made two changes from the West Ham defeat – enjoyed prolonged spells of possession but, against the run of play, Palace drew level. As the half hour approached, Yannick Bolasie and James McArthur combined well on the edge of the Arsenal penalty area to set up Ward, and his low drive arrowed past Petr Cech. Spurred on by the vocal home support, Palace – with Bolasie and Wickham making their first starts of the campaign – began to threaten more, but they needed a reflex save from McCarthy to keep out Aaron Ramsey's front-post flick before the break. Palace made a vibrant start to the second half and went agonisingly close to taking the lead three minutes in as Wickham crashed an effort off the post from Wilfried Zaha's cross. The new Palace striker was made to rue his miss just before the hour as the visitors retook the lead, Sanchez's towering back-post header turned into his own net by the unfortunate Delaney. Ramsey should have extended their advantage further after 67 minutes following a flowing move down the left, the Wales international superbly picked out by Ozil before lashing over the bar. Palace applied late pressure in their search for an equaliser with Wickham, Mutch and Ward all wasting openings, while McCarthy was needed to make one last save to prevent Santi Cazorla from stretching Arsenal's winning margin.