A high-flying Chelsea side traveled to the Etihad Stadium to face Defending Champions Manchester City. The Citizens were hoping to bounce back after their defeat to Liverpool last week and jump above Chelsea with a win in their conquest of defending the title.
Both teams had spells of possession, but it was Chelsea who drew first blood in the 21st minute when Mateo Kovacic launched a long ball forward, where N’Golo Kante rolled the ball past Ederson to give the lead to Chelsea.
After going behind, Man City looked an attacking force. And just 8 minutes later, in the 29th minute Kevin De Bruyne’s low strike deflected off both Zouma and Tomori, wrong footing Kepa and into the back of the net to level things.
However, City were not satisfied as they attacked to fins a goal to give them the lead. And in the 37th minute, Riyad Mahrez picked the ball from Rodri up on the right, went past 2 defenders before curling a shot into the bottom left corner of the net through Tomori’s legs, to give them the lead.
City almost doubled their lead in the 43rd minute when Kepa passed the ball directly to Aguero, who failed to capitalize on his chance as his shot from the edge of the box rattled the Crossbar and came back into play. Neither team could score before half time as City led 2-1 at the break.
Both teams created multiple chances in the second half. Ederson and Kepa both made fine saves as neither team could find the back of the net in the second half. City came close in the 4th minute of stoppage time when Jesus flicked a header into the box, where Sterling latched onto it and fired it past Kepa in the net, with VAR revealing that Sterling was offside, as the match finished 2-1 in the favor of Manchester City.
The win takes City to 3rd place, 9 points off leaders Liverpool and 1 point behind Leicester in 2nd. Chelsea drop to 4th on the table 2 points behind City, and are 7 points clear of Wolves in 5th place. Pep’s men would be hoping to get some momentum in their camp and fight back for the title. As for Lampard, he would want to bounce back midweek in the Champions League as Chelsea face Valencia away from home.
Player Ratings:
Manchester City:
Ederson- 6
Benjamin Mendy- 7
Fernandinho- 7
John Stones- 6
Joao Cancelo- 7
David Silva- 7
Rodri- 8
Kevin De Bruyne- 8
Raheem Sterling- 6
Sergio Aguero- 6
Riyad Mahrez- 8
Subs:
Ilkay Gundogan- 6
Phil Foden- 6
Gabriel Jesus- 5
Chelsea:
Kepa- 5
Cesar Azpilicueta- 7
Kurt Zouma- 5
Fikayo Tomori- 6
Emerson- 5
N’Golo Kante- 8
Jorginho- 6
Mateo Kovacic- 7
Willian- 7
Tammy Abraham- 6
Christian Pulisic- 5
Subs:
Reece James- 6
Michy Batshuayi- 5
Mason Mount- 6
