Pep Guardiola and Graham Potter both sent not the best line-ups they have at their disposal but even so – it was the home team that came out victorious. Final score at the Etihad Stadium 2-0 with Julian Alvarez and Riyad Mahrez sending their shots behind Edouard Mendy.It was quite an equal battle in the first half. Jack Grealish was particularly in the mood to try and score – in the eleventh minute, a rebound fell to his feet, and he sent a first-time exocet from long range that flew a whisker past the left post. Two minutes after, Chelsea responded via Christian Pulisic – the American darted into the penalty area to latch on to a pass, and he unleashed a low drive towards the middle of the net, but Stefan Ortega was alert and deny him. Ten minutes later, same names and the same outcome – Ortega denied Pulisic.North London embarresment: Arsenal and Spurs crash out of the League CupIn the 41st minute, Grealish tried again – the Englishman received a low pass just outside the box and sent a fine strike towards the bottom right corner but Mendy pulled off a reflexive save to block his effort. Just before the halftime whistle, Chelsea’s youngster Lewis Hall tried with a shot but Ortega was alert.In the second half, the Cityzens came out more determined to change the scoreboard. In the 52nd minute, Mendy made a great save to deny Grealish again, who made himself some space inside the box and tried with a quick low drive to the bottom left corner. However, there was nothing the Senegalese goalkeeper could do a minute later when Mahrez executed a close free kick perfectly.Chelsea’s Hakim Ziyech tried equalizing soon after but his attempt went high over the crossbar. Mahrez was close to scoring his second in the 58th minute when he shook off the attention of a defender and from mid-range let fly towards the bottom left corner, but Mendy was well positioned to make a comfortable save.In the next play already, the hosts were two goals ahead. Julian Alvarez tapped home from almost on the goal line after a lucky rebound fell at his feet.Man City’s talented youngin Cole Palmer was close to finding the net himself in the 61st minute, but Chelsea’s African custodian denied him.And it seems as if it needed all of that for the Blues to wake up but Ortega came prepared – first he pulled off a great save to deny Hall after receiving a precise defence-splitting pass. The effort was headed for the bottom left corner, but the goalkeeper dove superbly to stop it. And then in the final minutes of the match, he managed to stop Raheem Sterling’s effort. Ex-Cityzen found himself some space inside the box, collected a rebound and sent an effort in on goal but Ortega pulled off a fantastic reflex save to stop the ball going into the middle of the target. Just before the final whistle, Pulisic had his goal ruled out due to offside.Something needs to change and it needs to change fast at Chelsea. Potter had a few good results but the way the Blues are playing is simply not good enough if they want to challenge the best.ENGLAND – LEAGUE CUPTuesdayBournemouth – Everton 4-1 (1-0)/Lowe 7, Stanislas 47, Marcondes 78, Anthony 82 – Gray 67/Brentford – Gillingham 1-1 (1-0)/Toney 3 – Mandron 75/Bristol City – Lincoln City 1-3 (0-2)/Conway 80 – Virtue-Thick 6, House 15, O’Connor 49/Burnley – Crawley Town 3-1 (1-1)/Barnes 24, Zarouri 70, 90 – Telford 22/Leicester – Newport 3-0 (1-0)/Justin 44, Vardy 70, 82/Milton Keynes Dons – Morecambe 2-0 (1-0)/O’Hora 18, Dennis 51/Stevenage – Charlton 1-1 (1-0)/Norris 22 – Aneke 87/WednesdayArsenal – Brighton 1-3 (1-1)/Nketiah 20 – Welbeck 27(p), Mitoma 58, Lamptey 71/Newcastle – Crystal Palace 0-0/Newcastle proceed on penalties/Nott.Forest – Tottenham 2-0 (0-0)/Lodi 50, Lingard 57/Southampton – Sheffield W. 1-1 (1-1)/Ward-Prowse 45+2(p) – Windass 24//Southampton proceed on penalties/West Ham – Blackburn 2-2 (1-1)/Fornals 38, Antonio 78 – Vale 6, Diaz 88//Blackburn proceed on penalties/Wolverhampton – Leeds 1-0 (0-0)/Traore 85/Liverpool – Derby 0-0/Liverpool proceed on penalties/Man.City – Chelsea 2-0 (0-0)/Mahrez 53, Alvarez 58/Thursday23:00: (1.62) Man.Utd. (3.80) Aston Villa (5.80)***odds are subject to change***
