By Razeen Gutta
A solitary Riyad Mahrez strike helped Manchester City to all three points at Stamford Bridge in a game dominated by the use of both forced and unforced substitutions on Thursday.
Chelsea lost both Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic to first quarter injuries off John Stones challenges. Despite that, they surged on with Carney Chukwuemeka coming closest in the first period, hitting the woodwork after coming on off the bench.
Pep Guardiola made two changes at the half, replacing full backs Kyle Walker and Joao Cancelo. But the moment of magic came just after the hour mark when two further substitutions were made.
Jack Grealish and Mahrez came on; and after just four minutes on the pitch, the pair combined to give the visitors the lead with the Algerian beating Marc Cucurella to get the decisive touch.
Graham Potter’s side did not give up, with youngsters like Lewis Hall giving it everything to try and level matters against a City team far from their best.
The Cityzens held on to claim all three points, though, closing the gap behind Arsenal at the top of the table to five points.
For the Blues, an uphill battle awaits as they find themselves now ten points off the top four in mid-table albeit with more than half of the season still to play.
FA Cup action awaits English clubs this weekend, with Chelsea and City going head-to-head once more as the pick of the fixtures on Sunday.
Pictured above: Riyad Mahrez
Image source: @mancity
