Fernando Torres was the hero following a late strike and earning Chelsea all three points against Premier League title rivals Manchester City at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
The 29-year-old capitalised on yet another Joe Hart blunder to win the spoils for the Blues and send Jose Mourinho into the crowd in celebration, yet another iconic moment for the Chelsea manager.
Sergio Aguero was named man of the match for his performance and stunning equaliser after the break but Torres was undoubtedly the central figure of this game as we saw the best and worst of him. The Spaniard spurned a golden opportunity to give his side the lead and normally you’d expect a striker’s head to drop after that, especially considering his previous misfortune in front of goal, but his response was just what Chelsea needed.
There was a number of occasions when it looked like the home side would exploit the slack City defending and Fernandinho was doing a lot more than either centre half in protecting the goal. Just after the half hour Torres ran at their defence and put the ball on a plate for the waiting Andre Schürrle who opened the scoring. Moments later Torres ran down the left flank – cutting onto his stronger foot – and rattled the woodwork.
After the break Chelsea couldn’t seem to get a foot on the ball as Manuel Pellegrini’s side came back at them. It wasn’t long before Aguero – played onside by Gary Cahill – sent a shot flying into Petr Cech’s near post. It must have taken the Czech goalkeeper by surprise as he may feel he could have done better looking back on it but may have expected the Argentine to go across goal.
As the match progressed both sides looked keen on pressing for the winner but a draw seemed the likeliest outcome as they cancelled each other out until a costly – and hilarious – Hart error saw Torres win the race to send the ball home and pick up three points late in the day.
