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Goals from Riyad Mahrez and Julian Alvarez were enough to send Manchester City through to the Carabao Cup fourth round at the expense of Chelsea.
The difference in class became more evident the longer the game went on. Jack Grealish was the game’s standout outfield performer, considering the fact that the City goalkeeper, Stefan Ortega had a flawless outing.
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England boss Gareth Southgate must have been delighted to see Kalvin Phillips make his first appearance since early September.
On the balance of play, City deserved to win. Both sides had chances in a very open first half but some poor finishing and good goal keeping combined to keep scores level. 18-year-old Chelsea midfielder Lewis Hall was denied by Stefan Ortega just before the break.
The second half started in similarly open fashion. Spaces began to appear and when Mahrez went on a slaloming run, he was brought down by Trevoh Chalobah on the edge of the box.
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Up stepped the Algerian to float a freekick past Chelsea keeper Edouard Mendy, who remained rooted to the spot.
City’s second was created and finished by Julian Álvarez. The striker sent a 40-yard cross-field pass to Mahrez wide on the right. Mahrez cut inside and tried to find the corner but Mendy’s save fell to the feet of the predatory Álvarez to make it 2-0.
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Chelsea, however, will look back on some of the missed chances they had in the first half. Christian Pulisic was denied twice by Ortega and Hall should have done better with his attempt from close range. It is now three defeats in the last four for Chelsea boss Graham Potter.
The Blues boss tried to instigate a response by making a raft of substitutions in the second half. Most notably former City man Raheem Sterling. However, the changes had little to no impact on what already seemed like a lost cause at that point.
This victory extends Pep Guardiola and Man City’s home winning run to 16 games in all competitions.
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