Man City 3-1 Chelsea: Match report & 3 talking points from Champions League qualification shootout

Manchester City leapfrogged Chelsea in the Premier League table, clambering into the division's top four thanks to a 3-1 victory over the Blues on Saturday afternoon.

Noni Madueke fired the visitors in front three minutes after kick-off but Chelsea never capitalised upon that advantage. City equalised on the cusp of the interval and scored twice without reply in the second half, with Erling Haaland nabbing the go-ahead goal before teeing up Phil Foden in an inspired display.

However, it was largely an error-strewn affair at the Etihad Stadium which explained why both sides are battling for Champions League qualification rather than the Premier League title.

How the game unfolded

"For sure, they will be back soon," Enzo Maresca said of Manchester City ahead of kick-off. "I don't have any doubt." The defending champions had emphatically not rediscovered their imperious edge soon enough to stop Chelsea from taking the lead after three minutes.

The Blues pounced upon two frenzied moments of indecision from debutant Abdukodir Khusanov. After jumping under a high ball, the £42m recruit from Lens scuffed a headed back-pass which Nicolas Jackson gobbled up and squared for Madueke to give Chelsea an early lead.

The hosts belatedly recovered their composure, creating a glut of chances throughout a first half which also offered Chelsea some scoring opportunities. Most of City's threat was channelled through the buccaneering figure of Josko Gvardiol. After being denied on two occasions, the powerful full-back eventually found the back of the net.

Matheus Nunes' burst in behind was picked out by a ball over the top from Ilkay Gundogan. Caught unaware by an uncharacteristically direct approach, Marc Cucurella failed to hold off his Portuguese counterpart, who crashed into a hesitant Robert Sanchez, sending the ball squirming into Gvardiol's grateful stride.

City maintained their commitment to bypassing Chelsea's press following the interval. Moments after Haaland teed up Omar Marmoush for a wayward effort after a long punt forward from Ederson, the Norwegian goal-gobbler took the burden on himself.

Cleverly pinning Trevoh Chalobah, Haaland span onto a 70-yard drive and clipped the ball over Sanchez who was stranded in No Man's Land.

An air of nervous energy gripped the Etihad Stadium as memories of City's frequent failings remain fresh. Phil Foden's coolly converted third goal quashed those doubts. After another long pass forward, which Kevin De Bruyne flicked on, Haaland set his teammate away for a game-sealing strike.

City's victory lifts them above the Blues and Newcastle United into the top four, trailing third-placed Nottingham Forest by just three points. Chelsea, by contrast, have slipped down to sixth place and are only above a royally in-form Bournemouth side by virtue of scoring more goals this season.

Player ratings

Check out Man City 3-1 Chelsea player ratings here.

Man City's new boys enjoy contrasting debuts

Khusanov's Premier League career was three minutes and 36 seconds old by the time he had given away a goal and been shown his first yellow card in the competition. By stark comparison, Omar Marmoush proved his threat inside the opening 40 seconds when rattled off an early shot.

Frazzled by his miscued jump for the first ball, Khusanov was gripped by wobbly, four-in-the-morning logic when he tried to head a pass back to Ederson from the edge of his own box.

The Uzbek centre-back cleared his mind to avoid any more pratfalls, but was hooked within ten minutes of the restart shortly after narrowly escaping a second yellow card for a clattering challenge on Jackson. Guardiola wrapped the 20-year-old in a warm embrace which few could begrudge the youngster.

Marmoush was removed shortly after City took a 2-1 lead. Without marking his debut by directly contributing to a goal, there were flashes of the fruitful partnership which the Egyptian could form with Haaland - especially if City maintain their newly direct approach.

Robert Sanchez remains 'far, far, far' from perfect

"He's getting better,” Maresca said of his first-choice goalkeeper Robert Sanchez this week, "but he's still far, far, far from where I want him to be." That gap in performance and expectation will have widened after the Spaniard's showing at the Etihad.

Sanchez spent Saturday evening wading through a fog of indecision. Locked inside his six-yard box when presented with the chance to intercept Nunes' heavy touch for City's equaliser, the unconvincing custodian should have stayed on his line for Haaland's chip. Sanchez's boneheaded wandering forced the Norwegian to take aim, creating an opening which would not have existed had he not gone walkabout.

Chelsea's number one has made five errors leading to Premier League goals this season - a tally no other goalkeeper in the division can top.

Chelsea miss their chance to break City hoodoo

Despite the obvious outward respect that Maresca - Guardiola's former assistant - showed to his past employers, this was a golden opportunity for Chelsea to end their ten-game winless streak against City. Thomas Tuchel, another self-confessed Guardiola disciple, was the last Blues boss to beat the reigning English champions.

Chelsea took a three-minute lead by preying upon the uncertainty that is still rooted in the seams of City's rearguard. "Our problem is with the ball," Guardiola explained pre-game. "This season it is what we have missed. If you have the ball and don't pass properly to your mate, everything is so difficult."

Khusanov underscored that vulnerability, yet the Blues barely tested City's resolve thereafter, sitting back in a mid-block for much of the contest. Before the visitors could rediscover a vicious edge, City had finally figured out that they could avoid any nervy passes in their own box and threaten Chelsea's area by sending long balls forward to Haaland.

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