In a hotly contested match where both teams were in desperate need of a win, it took only one goal to separate the two teams. Manchester City’s Riyad Mayhrez slotted in Jack Grealish’s cross in the 63 minutes to walk away with the valuable three points.
Former Manchester City player Raheem Sterling played only two minutes before being subbed off due to an injury. The Blues brought on ex-Arsenal Forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to fill in the gap.
Former Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling got an injury just two minutes into the first half
However, in the absence of Mason Mount due to injury, Graham Potter’s Chelsea was dealt another huge blow when Christian Pulsic got injured too. The coaching staff had to work on a substitution quickly. Youngster Carney Chukwuemeka came on as soon as the situation required.
The 5 Things we learned as Manchester City beat Chelsea
1. Haaland can be stopped
Having already made and broken goal-scoring records, the Norwegian Forward has been a constant headache to all teams. In fact, he has over 20 goals to his name already. However, Chelsea’s backline managed to limit the notorious goal machine to only ten touches in the first half. The frustration on Haaland’s face was evident as first-half came to an end.
2. Chelsea has got talented youngsters
It is extremely sad that a number of Chelsea’s First team players are injured. Two of them got injured within 20 minutes of the first half. The Blues will be encouraged by what they saw of their youngsters as they came on to fill the gap, not to mention face one of the best teams in the world. Carney Chukwuemeka stuck the post on the 44 minutes, Lewis Hall showed potential.
18 year Old Chelsea Player Lewis Hall faces it off with Manchester City’s Riyad Mayhrez
3. Manchester City has a well-balanced squad
Truth be said, when the Premier League first spoke of introducing five substitutes, a number of ‘small’ clubs were not in favor of this idea. The reason is that it would only benefit big clubs such as Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, and the like who have balanced squads. This was evident and witnessed on Thursday night as City, made four changes that resulted in the scoring of the winning goal. Injury-stricken Chelsea had only youngsters on the bench with the exception of Aubameyang, Jorginho, and Connor Gallagher.
4. Chelsea has won just one of their last eight Premier League games
It is a trend that Graham Potter will be looking forward to ending as soon as possible. Chelsea has won just one of their last eight Premier League matches, drawing three and losing four. This is an unwanted record that has seen Chelsea record or win the fewest games in the league since October 18, 2022.
Manchester City’s Riyad Mayhrez scores against Chelsea
5. City too much for Chelsea
Despite starting positively, Chelsea couldn’t just stop City. The latter recorded the fourth win in their fourth meeting with Chelsea in all competitions without conceding a single goal in the process. This last happened to Chelsea when they lost and failed to score against a particular signed in 1958 – 1960 to Bolton.
As if not enough, the two teams are back in the action this very Sunday, January 8, 2023, against each other. Manchester City will welcome Chelsea at the Etihad stadium in the third round of the FA Cup in a 19:30 EAT kick-off. Which team do you think will come out on top?
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