Manchester City moved to within five points of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table courtesy of a 1-0 victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge this evening.
Jack Grealish teed up Riyad Mahrez for the only goal of the game just after the hour mark and moments after both players had been brought off the bench.
An out-of-form Chelsea side more than held their own against the champions, who had the chance to reduce the deficit to Arsenal following the Gunners' draw with Newcastle United earlier this week.
Indeed, despite losing Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic to early injuries, the home side were the better team in the first half as Pep Guardiola deployed an unorthodox formation which appeared to stifle Man City's free-flowing style, in addition to limiting the threat of Erling Braut Haaland, whose first touch did not come until the 21st minute.
Carney Chukwuemeka hit the post for the Blues at the end of the first half, but changes at half time saw Man City come out firing at the start of the second half, with Nathan Ake also hitting the woodwork.
It was on the hour mark that Guardiola proved his tactical nouse once again, though, bringing on both Grealish and Mahrez, who combined for the decisive moment of the match just three minutes later.
Chelsea could not find a response in the closing stages as they were condemned to their sixth league defeat of the season, leaving them with just one win in their last eight top-flight outings.
HIGHLIGHTS
16th min: John Stones makes a brilliant last-ditch challenge in the box to deny Christian Pulisic a golden chance inside the area.
24th min: Chelsea get their first real sight of goal as the ball breaks to Hakim Ziyech, but his low strike is kept out by Ederson.
38th min: Erling Braut Haaland has his first sight of goal of the night, and such is his quality that you expect him to bury it. Ilkay Gundogan turns and slides the ball forward for the striker, whose first touch allows him to get a quick shot away, but he fires it off target.
44th min: Chelsea are the width of a post away from the opener as Chukwuemeka gets a shot away from just outside the box and it takes a slight deflection on the way through, taking it away from Ederson but against the post. Man City immediately break towards the other end, but a perfectly-timed Kalidou Koulibaly challenge halts Kevin De Bruyne, who then fires a fairly tame shot into the arms of Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Chukwuemeka HITS the post 😱
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 5, 2023
End-to-end stuff at Stamford Bridge! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/VIL25EDf3U
48th min: Haaland is quickly on to a loose pass from Chelsea and immediately looks to get his shot away, but he uncharacteristically drags it well wide of the target from 25 yards.
51st min: Man City's bright start to the second half continues as De Bruyne sends a deep cross into the back post where Nathan Ake beats his own teammate Rodri in the air to plant a good header against the post.
OFF THE WOODWORK! 💥
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 5, 2023
So close from Nathan Aké! 😮 pic.twitter.com/DNt7hCIZlb
52nd min: This time it is Kepa who is needed to keep an increasingly-rampant Man City at bay, getting down smartly to his left to push a low De Bruyne strike away.
56th min: Big chance at the other end now as a bit of mis-control from Kai Havertz at the back post tees up Thiago Silva, who hammers a shot wide of the target from inside the area. He was under pressure from Rodri, and it got a touch on the way through, so perhaps the best chance was for Havertz initially.
59th min: Bernardo Silva skips away from Marc Cucurella far too easily before laying the ball back for De Bruyne in the box, and the Belgian should probably do better than firing wide of the near post having been afforded the time to take a touch.
63rd min: Three minutes after bringing Riyad Mahrez and Jack Grealish off the bench, the pair combine for the first goal of the game! De Bruyne plays the ball out to the right for Grealish, who slides a perfectly-weighted pass across the face of goal for Mahrez to tap home from close range! Kepa almost appeared to let that go across him rather than risk pushing it out into a dangerous area, but Mahrez punished him anyway.
SUPER SUBS! 🔁
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 5, 2023
Jack Grealish puts it on a plate for Riyad Mahrez and the Manchester City man makes no mistake with the simplest of finishes 👊 pic.twitter.com/qS5FPYz5ZS
90+1 min: A late chance for Lewis Hall to write his name in lights as he collects Chukwuemeka's pass and steadies himself, only to blaze his effort high and wide of the target when he should have done better.
A late counter from Chelsea but Lewis Hall can only fire the ball over! 😩 pic.twitter.com/Fdhe8xtIIY
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 5, 2023
MAN OF THE MATCH - JOHN STONES
© Reuters
De Bruyne deserves a mention for taking the game by the scruff of its neck in the second half and being the most prominent figure in Man City's improvement, but Chelsea may have been clear themselves before that if it was not for John Stones.
The centre-back - playing in an unfamiliar system - made a brilliant and crucial last-ditch challenge to deny Christian Pulisic in the first half, in addition to a number of other telling defensive contributions.
Indeed, Stones had more touches than anyone else on the pitch, in addition to winning all of his aerial duels and recording more passes into the final third than anyone else.
STANDOUT MOMENT
© Reuters
Stones's tackle needs to be mentioned, but given that he got the man of the match award, we are going to give this one to the decisive moment in terms of the result - Mahrez's winning goal.
The decision to bring both Mahrez and Grealish on for Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva proved to be an inspired one from Guardiola as, within four minutes, they had combined to break down the Chelsea defence.
It was a goal of great quality too, with De Bruyne giving it out for Grealish, whose first-time pass was perfectly weighted for Mahrez coming in at the back post.
Question marks could definitely be asked about Kepa's role, with the Chelsea keeper seemingly opting not to stretch his hand towards it and risk pushing it into a dangerous area, but it was still top-quality play from Grealish in particular.
BEST STATS
9 - Since he joined Man City in 2018, Riyad Mahrez has scored more Premier League goals as a substitute than any other player (9). He scored his goal, assisted by Jack Grealish, just 3 minutes and 43 seconds after both players had been subbed on. Impact. pic.twitter.com/RL80MCKI8W
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 5, 2023
4 - Manchester City are only the second side ever to win four consecutive meetings with Chelsea in all competitions while also keeping a clean sheet each time, after Bolton Wanderers from 1958 to 1960. Asserted. pic.twitter.com/eef6Fq71lh
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 5, 2023
1 - Chelsea have won just one of their last eight Premier League matches (D3 L4) – since the first game in this run on October 19th, no side has won fewer games in the competition. Sticky. pic.twitter.com/OI6l9KOpdR
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 5, 2023
Chelsea have taken three points this season against clubs currently in the top half of the Premier League.
— Richard Jolly 🇺🇦 (@RichJolly) January 5, 2023
MATCH STATS
Possession: Chelsea 47%-53% Man City
Shots: Chelsea 8-12 Man City
Shots on target: Chelsea 2-3 Man City
Corners: Chelsea 3-2 Man City
Fouls: Chelsea 9-9 Man City
LINEUPS
CHELSEA (4-2-3-1): Kepa; Azpilicueta, T Silva, Koulibaly, Cucurella (Hall 68'); Zakaria, Kovacic; Ziyech (Gallagher 69'), Sterling (Aubameyang 5'; Hutchinson 68'), Pulisic (Chukwuemeka 22'); Havertz
MAN CITY (3-2-4-1): Ederson; Walker (Lewis 46'), Stones, Ake; Bernardo (Mahrez 60'), Rodri (Phillips 86'); Cancelo (Akanji 46'), Gundogan, De Bruyne, Foden (Grealish 60'); Haaland
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