Five Things Learned: Manchester City 3-1 Chelsea (Premier League) | OneFootball

Manchester City climbed into the top-four of the Premier League table with an entertaining 3-1 win over Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium.

The defending champions faced Enzo Maresca’s side in a thrilling encounter, as the visitors opened the scoring through Noni Madueke inside three minutes before Josko Gvardiol pulled one back for the hosts before the break.

City took the lead through Erling Haaland and Phil Foden rounded off the evening with a third goal to seal the three points for Pep Guardiola’s team. The game also marked full debuts for Abdukodir Khusanov and Omar Marmoush, who made headlines but for different reasons.

The game kicked off on an intense note, with Chelsea immediately finding a goal after Khusanov’s error. The Uzbek defender’s terribly miscalculated back-pass saw Nicolas Jackson pounce on the opportunity, squaring it to Madueke. The latter found a clear opening and drove the ball into the net to give the visitors an early advantage.

City slowly gained composure and managed to fend off attacks while those in Sky Blue found their footing. The hosts soon built a series of counter-attacks, with Josko Gvardiol driving the offence from the left, dictating play along the flank and making incredible runs forward, but as a collective took considerable time to register their first shot on target.

The Croatian missed his first shot at goal but beat the goalkeeper with his second, this time with a slight touch of luck. Matheus Nunes, effective with attacks on the right, found his way past Marc Cucurella but saw his shot saved by Robert Sanchez. However, the ball deflected towards Gvardiol, who fired it past the Chelsea goalkeeper to bring his side level.

City’s 3-5-2 formation saw Omar Marmoush and Erling Haaland repeatedly exploit space behind the Chelsea defensive line, with Gvardiol and Nunes orchestrating attacks on either side.

But the Sky Blues scored their second through a long ball from Ederson that reached Haaland, and he comfortably beat Trevoh Chalobah to win the ball. He spun around the Chelsea defender, moved the ball to his left foot, and curled it over a wandering Sanchez.

A few minutes later, Haaland once again beat Chalobah to collect the ball and flick it towards Phil Foden. The midfielder raced into the opponent’s box and beat the goalkeeper to score the third goal, sealing a much-needed win over the home side.

Manchester City has now found their way back into the top-four, beating Newcastle United in goal difference and three points behind Nottingham Forest. The Guardiola-led side will return to action midweek for a must-win Champions League showing against Club Brugge.

But before that, let’s look at the Five Things We Learned from Manchester City’s convincing 3-1 comeback win over Chelsea in the Premier League!

Abdukodir Khusanov in the first five minutes and beyond

Khusanov would like to forget the game’s opening minutes, scuffing a header towards Ederson and forcing the Manchester City goalkeeper out of position and allowing Nicolas Jackson to pinch the ball away.

Squaring it towards Noni Madueke, who fired it home to deal an early blow to the hosts, moments later, the new signing passed the ball straight to Cole Palmer and was booked for bringing down the England International – all within the first five minutes of the game.

But was Khusanov’s performance indeed as ‘disastrous’ as headlines are making it out to be?

It was undoubtedly the kind of mistake that would be heavily criticised at the highest levels, but it was a young player’s first game with a new team after just one training session, and his opponent is one of the six big teams in the Premier League. He can be excused for nervous errors, especially when City have seen similar errors directly leading to goals more than a few times over past months.

Amid all the action, Khusanov notably regained composure. Bernardo Silva’s strategic positioning – dropping deep to guide runs – bolstered his confidence against the relentless Chelsea forwards.

Pep Guardiola will be pleased to see his defender refusing to let his early mistake overshadow the rest of his game, therefore preventing himself from becoming the target. Those in attendance at the Etihad Stadium applauded the centre-back when he came off the field, echoing the sentiment of his teammates and their manager.

Omar Marmoush gets a dream debut

Another City player made his debut for the champions against Chelsea and it was electric.

Omar Marmoush ran the show, easily tearing apart the visitor’s defence in a dream debut for the Egyptian forward, who found the back of the net only for his goal to be ruled out for offside.

Although Marmoush played in-behind Erling Haaland, he often overtook the Norwegian when City were on the attack. His pace and creativity helped string together quick-fire attacks to build pressure on the visitors.

But most importantly, he did an excellent job drawing out defenders who would otherwise solely mark Haaland. This allowed Manchester City’s set-up more space to exploit during offensive plays instead of only relying on build-ups from either flank.

The 25-year-old’s versatility and ability to play multiple positions could be a game-changer for the side. With City’s recent struggles upfront, Guardiola would move him around to find his most effective position in the team. He showed glimpses of a promising partnership with Haaland and would perhaps thrive when playing right behind the City striker.

The Boyhood Blues shine at the Etihad Stadium

While debutants had their moments in the spotlight, the partnership of Erling Haaland and Phil Foden had the Manchester City faithful over the moon throughout Saturday evening’s contest.

Haaland capitalised on Ederson’s long ball and earned City the lead before assisting Phil Foden, who scored the third. The two celebrated together, appearing closer than ever to hitting stride after their respective struggles in front of the goal.

Haaland scoring from Ederon’s assist was hardly a fluke. The Norwegian successfully received the ball twice beforem but rolled it in the path of his teammates to no avail. Ultimately, he took it upon himself the third time and craftily dinked it over the Chelsea goalkeeper, who had left his goal wide open.

His quick pass to Foden before the latter raced towards the goal and beat Robert Sanchez in a one-vs-one boasted similar composure from both players. It was a promising look for Manchester City’s attack after the Champions League showing against PSG last week.

Josko Gvardiol shares an important reminder

Although there were a lot of positives to take from City’s win over Chelsea, Josko Gvardiol’s attacking prowess deserves a mention of its own, and the Croatian found himself facing a myriad of criticisms for his defensive errors.

Gvardiol had started prioritising duties at the back, showed massive improvement, and recently made a goal-line clearance. But against Chelsea, the 23-year-old made a bold argument in favour of being one of the best attacking options in Pep Guardiola’s side.

The visitors tried and failed to contain the Croatian, who ran riot with the ball at his feet. He made decisive runs through midfield and tested Sanchez multiple times before eventually finding the net. He was bold with his touches inside the Chelsea box and drove the game forward without compromising on the backline in one of his most impressive performances.

There are times when the opposing side find opportunities to play around Gvardiol, but he is making it increasingly difficult for his man to find him out of position. Despite a few forgetful moments, his fellow defenders did well to hold the line while Gvardiol strutted into midfield. His growing confidence could work wonders for City in their upcoming fixtures against top-placed teams.

Did Pep Guardiola finally find an answer for his aging midfield?

It has been a minute since a City side looked as balanced as they did against Chelsea. And it partly comes down to the midfield with Mateo Kovacic, Ilkay Gundogan, and Bernardo Silva.

In previous games, Pep Guardiola had tried different variations of their link-ups, but each would falter for one reason or another. But this time, the three managed to work together and strike a balance between ball progression while sharing duties in holding midfield, primarily upholding the possession for the team, which is a crucial element of their tactics.

Unlike the last outing, Kovacic refrained from playing his way out of trouble. Instead, he quickly moved the ball forward when he found space, during which Gundogan dropped deep. They often interchanged roles, with Gundogan creating space for Gvardiol to charge forward. Bernardo Silva helped both as required but prioritised covering Khusanov’s runs.

We have previously seen a paring of Silva-Gundogan fail to facilitate offense, Gundogan-Kovacic to hold the midfield, and Kovacic-Silva to build pressure from the middle.

However, the three did better when working together, which is crucial when Kevin De Bruyne’s absence from midfield is factored in. Unless it was a one-off occurrence, it could give City a realistic option to cover the CDM role if they don’t sign a player for the position before the January transfer window ends.