MANCHESTER City laboured to a 1-0 victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge tonight to cut the gap on Premier League leaders Arsenal back to five points.
Substitutes Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez combined for the only goal of the tight encounter midway into the second half.
The champions struggled in the first half before Mahrez tapped home from Grealish’s low cross at the far post.
Chelsea were the brighter side in the first half despite adding both former City forward Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic to a long injury list, substitute Carney Chukwuemeka hitting the post from 18 yards out.
With Kevin De Bruyne below par, City lacked control in the first half and Erling Haaland was often left isolated with no service.
Pep Guardiola’s side had little fluency in the first half with three in central defence but the manager changed it to four in the second half and they improved.
The goal came in the 63rd minute during the visitors’ spell of dominance as Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga failed to cut out Grealish’s cross and Mahrez got in ahead of Marc Cucurella to guide the ball into the net.
It is Manchester City’s fourth straight win against Chelsea, making them only the second side ever to win four consecutive meetings over the Blues in all competitions while also keeping a clean sheet each time, after Bolton Wanderers from 1958 to 1960, according to Opta statistics.
Chelsea have won just one of their last eight Premier League matches:three draws and four defeats.
Since the first game in this run on October 19, no side have won fewer games in the competition.
The defeat leaves Graham Potter’s side in the 10th position in the Premier League table, 10 points off the Champions League places.
