Riyad Mahrez played a decisive role as Manchester City reduced Arsenal’s Premier League lead to five points with a 1-0 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
The Gunners’ goalless draw against Newcastle United on Tuesday gave Josep Guardiola’s team an advantage, although the defending champions were far from the best in the first period.
Karni Chukwuemeka and Nathan Ake hit the frame on either side of the break, with clear opportunities for both sides limited.
Coming off the bench, Mahrez changed the picture with a close-range finish in the 63rd minute that will leave Arsenal looking back ahead of an important month.
9. Since joining Manchester City in 2018, Riyad Mahrez has scored more Premier League goals as a substitute than any other player (9). He scored his goal with the help of Jack Grealish just 3 minutes and 43 seconds after both players were substituted. Influence. pic.twitter.com/RL80MCKI8W
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 5, 2023
Chelsea’s injury problems worsened in the first 20 minutes as they lost Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic. The problem with the latter arose after the Blues first saw a goal, when the American striker was stopped by a precise tackle by John Stones.
Substitute Chukwuemeka put in his best effort in what was a muted first half, landing a right-footed shot from outside the box and beating Ederson with a low shot that bounced off the left post.
City boss Guardiola shuffled his deck at half-time, introducing Manuel Akanji and Rico Lewis in place of Joao Cancela and Kyle Walker, revitalizing the reigning champions with Ake heading the post and Kevin De Bruyne forcing Kepa Arrizabalaga to make a low save.
The fine footwork of Bernardo Silva created another advantage, forcing De Bruyne off target before further changes followed at the hour mark with the arrival of Jack Grealish and Mahrez.
The pair teamed up three minutes later, Grealish fired a pass from the left and Mahrez scored with ease.
City held on to secure what could have been a valuable title win while Chelsea were 10 points behind Manchester United in fourth place in the Champions League football race.
What does this mean? The city put pressure on
Leading up to the game, Guardiola spoke of the difficulty of closing the eight-point gap over Arsenal, but the victory reduces that figure to five in what could be a decisive month in the fight for the Premier League title.
The Gunners will face tough challenges against Tottenham and Manchester United in the coming weeks. They then travel to Everton and host Brentford ahead of the February 15 game against City, which was postponed earlier in the season.
Four weeks before this match, City will play two of the same opponents, Spurs (whom they play twice) and United, and their other games will be against Aston Villa and Wolves, which is means that in mid-February, the title picture can be very different.
Stones – rock city
A decisive tackle by Pulisic early in the exchanges prevented a golden opportunity for the Chelsea player, whose contribution was his last in the game, and the Stones intervened decisively throughout the west London clash.
No player has won more duels (seven) than the Stones during the game, with the England international also winning 100 per cent (4/4) of his aerial duels and boasting 98 per cent passing accuracy and 102 touches, both of which are the highest among all starting City. player.
Awkward Aubameyang
Chelsea have yet to consistently see a version of Aubameyang chasing the Premier League defense during his goal-packed spell at Arsenal and it was another missed opportunity to make an impact for the Blues against City.
Introduced as an early replacement for the injured Sterling, Aubameyang made just 14 touches of the ball, only one of which came in City’s box, before being pulled out midway through the second half.
Key facts about Opta
City have won their last four games against Chelsea in all competitions without conceding a single goal. This is only the second time that Chelsea have lost and failed to score in four consecutive games against a certain team, after doing so against Bolton from 1958 to 1960.
– Chelsea have won only one of their last eight Premier League matches (D3 L4) – since the first game in this series on 19 October, no team has won fewer games in the competition.
– Chelsea’s Graham Potter has lost six of his seven games as head coach against City in the Premier League (W1), his most league defeats against any opponent in his managerial career.
– City’s first shot of this game came in the 33rd minute via Ilkay Gündoğan, the longest wait for a first shot in a Premier League game since October 2018 against Liverpool (38th minute).
– Mahrez and Grealish scored together just three minutes and 43 seconds after the pair were substituted.
Grealish has assisted three goals in his last three Premier League games, doubling his tally compared to his first 34 games for City.
– Mahrez has scored nine goals as a substitute for City in the Premier League, with only Edin Dzeko (13) and Sergio Aguero (12) scoring more goals off the bench for the club in the competition.
– Mahrez’s goal was his 40th Premier League goal for City, beating him against his previous club, Leicester City (39).
What’s next?
The two teams will meet again in the third round of the FA Cup on Sunday when City host Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium.