This was Manchester City reminding their rivals that they remain the team to beat. Pep Guardiola’s team were at their authoritative best from start to finish, ending Chelsea’s unbeaten start to the season with a wonderfully assured performance, and on this evidence their failure to sign Harry Kane is not going to make it harder for the champions to retain their title.
It had the feel of a statement victory. Gabriel Jesus, a striker playing on the right wing, scored the only goal and City easily could have won by more. They delighted in gaining revenge for their defeat to Chelsea in the Champions League final and it felt like an important moment for Guardiola, who was delighted to end a run of three consecutive defeats against Thomas Tuchel.
The pattern of play demonstrated why Tuchel had warned that Chelsea could not afford to drop their focus for a single second. City seized control from the start, their defence pushing daringly high, and there were long spells when it seemed that they were capable of keeping the ball all afternoon. It was a bold, expansive approach from Guardiola’s side, whose aggression made it difficult for Chelsea to build from the back, and it was telling that Tuchel was more animated than usual in his technical area, bellowing at his players and urging them to show more composure in possession.
Chelsea had lined up in a slightly conservative 3-5-2 system, Mason Mount’s absence through injury allowing them to squeeze the space in midfield by starting N’Golo Kanté alongside Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic. It was a continuation of the plan that proved so effective during the second half of last weekend’s victory over Tottenham and there were times when it seemed that Chelsea were trying to lure City into a trap, urging them to inch forward before stealing possession and playing quick balls to the little-and-large combination of Timo Werner and Romelu Lukaku up front.
The problem for Chelsea is that City were waiting for them. Aymeric Laporte and Rúben Dias dealt with Werner, who was not on the same wavelength as Lukaku, and it helped that Guardiola had corrected the mistake he made in Porto where he inexplicably selected Ilkay Gündogan as his deepest midfielder. This time he had the outstanding Rodri cutting the supply line to Chelsea’s forwards and that extra layer of security gave City more balance, allowing their creative talents to shine.
Bernardo Silva was a clever, controlling presence in midfield and Phil Foden marked his first league start of the season with a mature display as Guardiola’s false nine. It was Foden who made City’s clearest chance of the opening period, pulling left to find Jesus, who swiped wide when he should have at least tested Édouard Mendy.
At that stage it seemed that City were never going to find a way through a defence that had only conceded once in the league before kick-off. Openings were rare at first. Rodri saw an effort from long range deflected narrowly over; Kevin De Bruyne was frustrated by Andreas Christensen when he found space on the edge of the area; Mendy punched away an inswinging corner from Foden.
ity, who visit Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool in the next week, needed to be more precise if they were going to breach Chelsea’s miserly defence. After 27 minutes Guardiola used a break in play to hold an impromptu tactical discussion with Jesus, Silva and Kyle Walker. The manager had been on Jesus’s case from the start, instructing him to stretch the play on the right, and there were times when the forward was too tentative in possession. He was winded by an early challenge from Antonio Rüdiger and he did not always look prepared to use his pace against Marcos Alonso, Chelsea’s left wing-back.
But the message from Guardiola landed. After 53 minutes, João Cancelo dropped a shoulder and fired a low shot into the area from 25 yards. Jesus collected the ball, produced some nimble footwork to make space and earned a slice of luck when his low shot took a deflection off Jorginho, leaving Mendy stranded as the ball squirted into the bottom-right corner.
City had the breakthrough they deserved and they threatened to overwhelm Chelsea after taking the lead. Jack Grealish came alive on the left, angling a shot inches wide, and Chelsea escaped when Jesus saw another effort cleared off the line.
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Tuchel had to find a way to change the flow. Chelsea, who lost an attacking outlet when César Azpilicueta was forced to move right wing-back after Thiago Silva replaced the injured Reece James, lacked a way of linking the play with Mount as one of the No 10s. They needed a different approach and they improved after Kanté made way for Kai Havertz, who was denied by an offside flag when he teed up Lukaku to finish from close range.
There were more flashes from Chelsea, Kovacic firing inches over and Ederson denying Havertz with a firm challenge near the end. Yet City would not be denied. Grealish and Laporte both went close at the other end and there was no dispute that City, who are now level on points with Chelsea, were deserved winners.