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Five Things We Learned: Chelsea 0-1 Manchester City (Premier League)

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Manchester City scraped a crucial victory against Graham Potter’s Chelsea thanks to second half magic from a pair of substitutes.

The visitors were nearly diabolical in the first half, giving the ball away more often than not and failing to pose any meaningful threat.

But things took a promising turn immediately after half-time, when Guardiola introduced two defenders who have been regulars over recent weeks in Manuel Akanji and Rico Lewis.

His next two substitutions were even better: Jack Grealish set up a vital goal for Riyad Mahrez just minutes after the pair set foot on the pitch, giving City a lead and eventually three points that may just have reignited the Manchester end of the Premier League title race.

Here’s what we learned from the Stamford Bridge clash…

Bizarre Starting XI Doesn’t Pay Off

Pep Guardiola was at his ‘Peppiest’ and most Guardiola against Chelsea. Most City fans, quite reasonably, expected a standard 4-3-3 when the line-ups were announced an hour before kick-off. The reality wasn’t so simple, and without a doubt it’s the Catalan’s tactical approach that people will be talking about for days to come in the aftermath of the match.

Let’s get the negatives out of the way: Cancelo on the right wing didn’t work, and the Portugal international was pretty much a disaster before being hooked off early.

We know Rodri can play centre-back if needed, but why waste his midfield abilities when we have Akanji on the bench?

And ultimately, most City fans agree by now that De Bruyne, Bernardo and Gundogan don’t usually all need to be on the pitch at the same time.

Strange decisions like these have cost us before and will cost us again, and you can’t blame City fans for fearing that this may be another of those occasions after a dismal first-half showing.

Pep’s Changes Save the Day

The first half was a tactical disaster, but Pep’s changes between 45 and 60 minutes were nothing short of sublime. The introductions of Manuel Akanji and Rico Lewis instantly changed the game and led to a dominant spell for the visitors, while Riyad Mahrez and Jack Grealish combined to open the scoring just minutes after they came off the bench. It’s fair to criticise Pep for not going with an XI like this in the first place, of course, but he also deserves credit for recognising the problem and rectifying it swiftly.

The goal itself was a thing of beauty, with Grealish playing a magnificent pass (with his weaker foot, no less) to set up Riyad Mahrez at the back post. Some will say that Pep has been vindicated for sticking with this wing partnership, but it would be short-sighted to forget the limp displays against Brentford and Everton just off the back of this win.

Haaland Needs More Support

Much is always made of Erling Haaland’s relatively low touch-count for Manchester City. Commentators and pundits alike love to mention it, presumably because they don’t have much else in the way of ammunition to criticise him. But the reason for his lack of involvement against Chelsea, particularly in the first half, was quite simple: the service was dreadful.

We knew exactly what Haaland was when we signed him: a sensational finisher who isn’t likely to create goals out of nothing. So why expect him to do it all himself? It’s often striking when watching City just how rarely they play that ball over the top to the big Norwegian, and yet he looks dangerous almost every time.

Haaland is on track to smash the record for Premier League goals in the season, but he could be scoring even more if his teammates truly learned how to set him up.

John Stones is City’s True Folk Hero

There are two types of people in the world: those who think John Stones is great and those who don’t know what they’re talking about. City’s most reliable defender for longer than I can remember was at it again against Chelsea, lighting the pitch up with a goal-saving tackle in the first half.

In fact, he was one of the very few players who could have gone into the dressing room at the break not feeling like he’d let himself down.

I don’t have much positive to say about City’s first-half display at the Bridge, but Stones’ showing was a diamond in the rough – and things got better after the break when his challenge on Connor Gallagher bailed the away side out of trouble once again.

Certainly my man of the match and a must-start for every big game at the moment.

Pep Trusts Rico Lewis… And Rightly So

There aren’t many bigger displays of faith a manager can place in a young player than bringing them on at half time in a goalless must-win game away to a top side, but that’s what Pep Guardiola did with Rico Lewis against Chelsea. I’m not sure even Phil Foden got many votes of confidence like that when he was Rico’s age.

But Lewis stepped up, looking right at home in one of England’s most illustrious stadiums. I’d even go as far as to say that the youngster played with swagger, as if daring Pep to leave him out again next time. Let’s just say I don’t think the manager will.

Nobody expected it at the start of the season, but we may be watching the beginnings of our next starting right-back. On current form, he’s certainly in the side on merit.

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