Manchester City have closed the gap on Arsenal at the Premier League summit to five points with a 1-0 win away at Chelsea on Thursday. The Gunners' draw with Newcastle Unkted opened up an opportunity which the Citizens managed to take in West London. Riyad Mahrez scored the only goal of the game just after the hour mark and three minutes after coming on. Fellow substitute Jack Grealish assisted for the goal as Pep Guardiola's men seized on their second-half momentum with some timely changes.
The Blues had fared well in the first 45 despite Graham Potter's men losing Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic to first-half injuries. However, City turned the screw in the second half and could have scored more than once as they hit the woodwork through Nathan Ake before finally breaking through via Mahrez.
On top of the injury headaches, Potter will feel that Chelsea could have done much better given City's below-par first half. The Blues were more than in the game for the opening 45 and actually looked the better side at the break.
Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland were not at their best at Stamford Bridge, but that did not matter as Guardiola's changes made the difference. Grealish notched his third assist since the post-FIFA World Cup break as Mahrez got his second goal in that spell.
The hosts' Pierre Emerick Aubameyang also suffered the humiliation of coming on as a substitute to replace Sterling inside the opening five minutes only to be replaced himself in the second half after a poor display. Potter is now well and truly under pressure as Chelsea go to City in the FA Cup third round this weekend surely fearing a premature domestic cup exit.
Mahrez's second half goal is the difference as Guardiola's men close the gap to five points on Arsenal. Grealish and Mahrez on after the hour was an inspired move which ultimately proved to be the difference on a night when De Bruyne and Haaland were less effective.
Aubameyang, who replaced Sterling early on, is one of the players withdrawn by Potter in these latest changes. Haaland inches away from adding a second for City just now.
There it is! Moments after being sent on, the two substitutes combine and Grealish tees Mahrez up for the opener. Could Kepa have done more to snuff out the chance?
Ake has hit the woodwork with a header since the restart and now Kepa denies De Bruyne. The Belgian also squandered a good chance created by Silva. That after Haaland fired wide. More of this and it will be a question of how long Chelsea can hold out. Grealish and Mahrez are now on for Bernardo and Foden.
Th home side lost Sterling and Pulisic early on yet have arguably been the more impressive side overall. City are starting to come into a bit and a flurry of chances late in the first half suggested that the best could come in the second half.
Despite losing Sterling and Pulisic early on, Chelsea are faring better than City who are yet to get going. Haaland has barely registered while Guardiola's men are finding it hard to string anything together. It took the Norwegain almost an entire half before getting his first sight of goal. League leaders Arsenal will be delighted with this so far. Chukwuemeka then hits the woodwork via a Walker deflection De Bruyne is then denied by Kepa at the other end.
The USMNT star got injured in that Stones challenge and tried to play on, but was in too much pain. Chukwuemeka has come on -- what a chance for him to impress. That is two Chelsea players lost inside of 22 minutes for Potter...
Kepa gets down to gather the ball in from Gundogan after Cancelo had found his teammate. Before that, Cucurella hit the side netting with a cross while Haaland did not get a touch at all in the opening 10.
We have kick-off at Stamford Bridge and Sterling is already on the ground and in discomfort with what appears to be a hamstring issue. Aubameyang is already coming on for the England international just minutes in. Sterling joins Reece James and Mason Mount as injured personnel.
Something which will not reassure Chelsea fans pre-game is the fact that seven City players average more Premier League shots per 90 minutes than Kai Havertz (2.19) and Christian Pulisic (2.16) -- one of those seven Citizens is defender Aymeric Laporte. Very little to cheer for the Blues so far this season and these sorts of numbers are part of the reason why.
Both Chelsea and City are unbeaten since Qatar, but Guardiola's men have played once more than Potter's side with two wins and a draw across all competitions. City already knocked Chelsea out of the EFL Cup which is why the capital outfit have only played twice since the resumption of major domestic play in England.
Chelsea have been very up and down since their takeover...
"You have to be stable, that helps," said the Blues' boss. "The situation we came into was quite extreme, in terms of the amount of games we had with the Champions League, and then we had injuries to key players. In the end you are trying to find a solution: How do you replace Reece James? How do you replace N'Golo Kante? How do you replace Wesley Fofana? These are guys that are key players for us. I do not want to make excuses -- it sounds like them. We need stability and we are working towards that. We need to be consistent with the shape and try and be consistent with the players we have. We have lost James and Mason Mount since our last home game. That is just the life you have as a football manger. That affects consistency. When you are playing Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday, it would be nice to say we have 11 players and we will roll them out all the time, but that is not the reality that you have. You have to adjust, and of course if results do not go well you get criticism for that. If you do not change your formation and you lose you get criticism. It is what it is. You have to accept it."
The Chelsea boss has been speaking pre-game about his first few months in the job...
"It has been intense, challenging, enjoyable," he said. "You understand the responsibility and pressure because ultimately it is a fantastic football club. Ultimately we have had a transition period for most of the year and that has an impact, of course. There is lots of things, a lot of games, a few injuries. That is my summary so far. We did well in the Champions League in terms of qualifying, results wise that was positive. We had a decent start. You get to know the players, club and how the training ground functions. There is information that you gather all the time. We haven't been happy with how we have played, certainly in the Premier League. There is work to do there in terms of how the team functions. We need to attack more, we need to create more chances. We can make excuses, there are reasons, but ultimately we have to take responsibility and say we can do better."
That is the start for Pulisic confirmed. A lot of experience in that Chelsea back line too. Ziyech will be hoping to channel his World Cup form into this one. Meanwhile, outside of an off night, the question of how to stop Haaland remains.
Chelsea: Kepa; Azpilicueta (c), Koulibaly, Silva, Cucurella; Kovacic, Zakaria; Sterling, Ziyech, Pulisic; Havertz.
City: Ederson; Walker, Stones, Ake, Cancelo; De Buryne, Rodri, Gundogan (c); Silva, Haaland, Foden.
Thank you for joining our coverage of Chelsea vs. Manchester City in the Premier League. Will Christian Pulisic get a rare start as the Blues chase the points they need to climb the table? We will find out shortly.
