MAN CITY 1, CHELSEA 0
Chelsea brought along giant inflatables of the Champions League to taunt Manchester City supporters, but it was they who left the Etihad deflated.
“Where’s your European Cup,” they sang as they reminded City fans of the May night in Lisbon when Chelsea denied City their first-ever Champions League crown,
In this eagerly awaited clash of the top two, Kevin De Bruyne silenced the visitors as his spectacular strike moved City 13 points clear of their rivals.
And though it is only mid-January, there is surely no way City will blow what appears an unassailable lead.
City made it 12 straight league wins, a run which has seen them move streets ahead of Chelsea and Liverpool who at one stage looked set to be in a gripping title race.
Pep Guardiola’s side, with 14 wins and one loss from their last 15 games in all competitions, have blown away their opponents.
It must have been sweet for Guardiola who lost three times to Chelsea last season. Indeed, City’s manager has lost eight games to Chelsea, more than against any other team.
It was never going to become a ninth loss and in the battle of the two managers, Chelsea’s Thomas Tuchel has recorded only one win in seven league meetings against City’s boss.
Embed from Getty ImagesGuardiola described the victory as “absolutely well deserved”.
He said: “I was happy to win against Arsenal, but we didn’t deserve it. When we win and deserve it, it feels better.
“We cannot expect 10, 12 chances against that team. They’re European champions and we realised how incredible and aggressive they are.
“They waited in the transition to punish us, and we scored the goal in a transition. We knew exactly what team we were playing and how good they are.
“In general today, we were so patient. In transition they are one of the strongest teams, alongside Liverpool of course. If we don’t finish the actions they can run and they are so good at that. Sometimes the situations outside look simple, but they are so difficult.”
There was also praise for De Bruyne as he continued: “We are together since day one here. What we have done, we have done together. He’s won a lot at this club, and he remains the same guy I met on the first day.
“He’s incredibly humble, always does it for the team. It’s so difficult to find a player with this humility. I know the beginning of the season was not his best, but we are always there to help him. The goal is typical of him. I’m very pleased for him because he deserved it.”
And of the City’s title bid, Guardiola added: “In January no-one is champions and we do one game at a time.
“Liverpool have one game in hand and, if they beat Leeds, it is eight points and that is nothing.”
A delighted De Bruyne said: “It was a big game and they came here with a good plan, They were tight defensively but we played a good game. It’s nice to score, it was important as we knew if we won we would make the gap bigger.
“We have been in this situation before, things can change and momentum can change. The team was focused on what we could do today.
“I got away from N’Golo Kante at the right time, I was looking at the space and they were dropping off, I found the angle and it worked perfectly.
“It’s always difficult against them they are tight defensively, know what they are doing and you have to be patient. We played the game we needed to play and did what we had to do.
“They can be very dangerous, it was a very hard game, people on both sides coming back from Covid and not much training.”
And on City’s title hopes, De Bruyne added: “They (Chelsea) need to be almost perfect. There is another team dangling there, so we need to keep momentum and win each game by game.”
City were much changed from the side that beat Swindon in the FA Cup over a week ago.
Tuchel said: “We deserved a draw. We didn’t allow big chances – one from a big mistake in the first half, but we were not under that much pressure.
“Performance-wise it was okay. From the commitment, I’m absolutely okay with the performance. We have won games like this against City and that feels very different, but that’s the way it is.
“We had eight or nine offensive transitions and zero touches in the box. It was simply a lack of precision and a lack of composure. On a level like this we lost too many balls too easily. That was a big problem in our game today.
“We had moments where we suffered, but not stronger than in the first game. In the first half we can do much better and create better chances with better ball control.”
On the title race, Tuchel added: “We won’t give up, but if City keep on winning every game, nobody can catch them.”
Kyle Walker, Joao Cancelo, Bernardo Silva, Rodri and De Bruyne remained in the starting line-up with Phil Foden and Jack Grealish among those returning to the side.
It was a youthful bench which included Luke Mbete, James McAtee, Romeo Lavia and Joshua Wilson-Esbrand, though there was experience with Ruben Dias, Ilkay Gundogan, Gabriel Jesus and Fernandinho.
There were five changes to the Chelsea side that beat Spurs in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.
Marcos Alonso, Thiago Silva, N’Golo Kante, Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic all started.
After a cagey opening, City had the first goal attempt in the 14th minute but John Sstones could only direct a header from Raheem Sterling’s cross direct at keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.
It was a fascinating first period in which City had almost two thirds of possession without seriously threatening to turn that into goals.
They did, however, have a huge chance to break the deadlock five minutes before the break.
Mateo Kovacic’s dangerous ball across the centre of defence was deflected off De Bruyne to Jack Grealish who found himself clean through on goal only for Arrizabalaga to deflect his shot for a corner.
It was by far the clearest opening of the first 45 minutes as Chelsea did not have one goal attempt, something which had not happened under Tuchel’s watch, attempt while City managed five.
There was more action in the opening two minutes of the second half than in the opening period.
Sterling, sliding in, just failed to reach a low cross from the left by De Bruyne.
At the opposite end, Romelu Lukaku, released by Kovacic, burst clear only to be denied by a flying save from Ederson on the edge of the box.
Arrizabalaga had to be alert to turn over a well-struck free kick by De Bruyne from outside the box after Grealish was fouled by Cesar Azpilucueta.
The breakthrough came with 20 minutes left through a brilliant solo strike from De Bruyne, his seventh goal of the season.
He picked up the ball off Joao Cancelo just inside the Chelsea half and breezed past Kante before curling a fabulous shot from 22 yards to the left of Arrizabalaga.
City had a great chance to double their lead when Foden fired over following a mesmerising run by Sterling who showed why he was named Premier League player of the month for December.
Ilkay Gundogan replaced De Bruyne with six minutes left, City’s first change which was quickly followed by Foden making way for Jesus, but City were never troubled in the closing stages as they moved ever closer to retaining their Premier League crown in what is becoming a one-horse title race.