Manchester City beats a defiant Chelsea team 1-0 at Stamford Bridge in the lunchtime kickoff game. This victory ends a run of three consecutive losses against the Blues.
It was a graft-filled performance punctuated by flashes of brilliant forward football.
City deservedly won thanks to Gabriel Jesus' deflected shot, since they dominated the game and were by much the more daring team.
Pep Guardiola has now won 221 games in charge of City, more than any other manager in the club's history.
Manchester City dominated possession from the start, with 67 per cent possession at halftime, but Chelsea defence was so good that Édouard Mendy's comeback from injury was barely tested. Around the quarter-hour mark, the ‘Blues' displayed some attacking threat, with a last-ditch intervention from Joao Cancelo preventing Romelu Lukaku in the box. However, just before the half-hour mark, they were dealt a blow when Reece James was forced out with an injury and replaced by Thiago Silva. Gabriel Jesus had the finest chance for City five minutes before the break,after a beautifully clipped pass from Phil Foden, but the Brazilian couldn't control his strike to hit the target, resulting in no shots on goal for the entire half.
In the 53rd minute, Gabriel Jesus made amends, working out a chance for himself in the area with deft agility before squeezing his effort through the crowd and into the bottom corner, thanks to a deflection from Jorginho.
This forced the game to open up, and City came close to capitalizing when Jack Grealish was stopped by a fantastic Mendy save just before Jesus' shot was cleared off the line by Silva. In the 63rd minute, Lukaku thought he'd equalized, but replacement Kai Havertz was offside in the build-up. In the 71st minute, Mateo Kovai came the closest to restoring parity, but was stopped by a spectacular block from Ruben Dias. Manchester City came close to scoring a late goal as well, as Aymeric Laporte's shot whistled beyond the post, Mendy denied Grealish for the second time.
This is a historically difficult match for Pep Guardiola, who has never lost to a team as good as Chelsea, so he will be overjoyed with the win. Meanwhile, Thomas Tuchel's side has now lost its unbeaten record this season in all competitions.
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