Manchester City closed the gap on Premier League leaders Arsenal to five points with a win over injury-ravaged Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
The defending champions struggled in the first half before two of manager Pep Guardiola’s substitutes combined to break the deadlock after 63 minutes, Riyad Mahrez slotting in Jack Grealish’s low cross at the far post.
Chelsea enjoyed the best of the first half despite adding former City striker Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic to a growing injury list, with substitute Carney Chukwuemeka hitting the post from the edge of the area .
Graham Potter will rightly point out Chelsea’s bad luck with the absentees, but the bottom line is that this defeat leaves them in the unusual position of 10th, 10 points from the Champions League places.
City, meanwhile, will be happy to get three points when they are far from their best and on a rare night when scoring machine Erling Haaland failed to hit the target.
More soon.
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