Manchester City beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and move closer to Arsenal
Key takeaways:
- Riyad Mahrez scored his second goal in the Premier League this season.
- Manchester City neared the gap on Premier League toppers Arsenal to five points with a win over injury-ravaged Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
The reigning champs struggled in the first half before two of boss Pep Guardiola’s substitutes united to break the draw after 63 minutes, Riyad Mahrez turning in Jack Grealish’s low cross at the far position.
Chelsea had the better of the first half despite adding both ex-Cities wingers Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic to a lengthening injury list, substitute Carney Chukwuemeka striking the bar from the edge of the penalty area.
Graham Potter will justifiably point to Chelsea’s lousy luck with absentees. Still, the bottom line is this loss leaves them in the unaccustomed role of 10th, 10 points below the Champions League spots.
City, meanwhile, will be glad to grab the three points despite being far from their best, and on a rare evening, scoring machine Erling Haaland failed to strike the target.
Man City dig for success
The City was nowhere near its best, but the celebrations at the final whistle signalled that this was the fighting victory that is the trademark of champions.
Guardiola’s team struggled in the first half with three in central defence, but the boss reverted to four in the second half in an alarming show of solidity from his substitutes’ bench.
And it worked to fix this tight match as Chelsea goalie Kepa Arrizabalaga failed to clear out Grealish’s cross and Mahrez got in ahead of Marc Cucurella to score the decisive goal.
John Stones was singled out for particular praise by City’s travelling fanatics at the final whistle, and rightly so, after another excellent performance, the highlight coming with a superbly-timed challenge on Pulisic in the six-yard area with the match in the balance.
