Pep Guardiola’s reserves brought Manchester City a victory at Stamford Bridge and came closer to the leading Arsenal after the Gunners’ draw with Newcastle (0:0). Citizens won 1:0 against Chelsea, due to Riyad Mahrez’s goal after an assist from Jack Grealish in the 63rd minute. Both of them entered the game only three minutes earlier, so it’s easy to understand that Pep Guardiola hit the spot with the changes.No matter how much they spend, Chelsea still loses – City took all points in LondonBefore the mentioned tandem, at the beginning of the second half, the Spaniard introduced Manuel Akanji and Rick Lewis instead of Kyle Walker and Joao Cancelo, who played more forward than usual on the right side in London. The changes that Guardiola made in this match were one of the topics of the press conference. And the Spaniard had an ironic answer to why he made those changes.“I am a genius. Because after Everton I was asked why I didn’t make a substitution until 81 minutes. I thought about that today and made some. The first half was sloppy. We didn’t create much, our pressing was so poor we were not well organized and in the second half especially with Manuel and Rico we were better. We could lose here, but now we have a five-point gap. We have three less points to play for. It means a lot but we have to prove ourselves so because it is normal to be in this position after four Premier Leagues in five years. We have the mindset that in November the people believe we are already champions, and this is impossible” explained Guardiola.Pep Guardiola on his decision to bring on Riyad Mahrez and Jack Grealish, who combined for Manchester City’s winning goal against Chelsea 😅 pic.twitter.com/SJyb0X4rUc— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) January 5, 2023 The City manager also didn’t pass the opportunity to emphasize the amount of pressure he and his players are witnessing.“Other teams that don’t have this pressure because people say in September that City are going to win. After four Premier Leagues in five years it is not easy to push them again. That is why I am satisfied after what happened in recent years. We’d prefer to be closer but with the way Arsenal play they deserve to better. For us it was so important, especially in the second half, to be aware that we can do it again and again and again” said Pep.ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE – Matchday 19MondayBrentford – Liverpool 3-1 (2-0)/Konate 19 og, Wissa 42, Mbeumo 84 – Oxlade-Chamberlain 50/TuesdayLeicester – Fulham 0-1 (0-1)/Mitrovic 17/Arsenal – Newcastle 0-0Everton – Brighton 1-4 (0-1)/Gray 90+2 (p) – Mitoma 14, Ferguson 51, March 54, Gross 57/Man.Utd. – Bournemouth 3-0 (1-0)/Casemiro 23, Shaw 49, Rashford 86/WednesdaySouthampton – Nott.Forest 0-1 (0-1)/Awoniyi 27/Leeds – West Ham 2-2 (1-1)/Gnonto 27, Rodrigo 70 – Paqueta 44 pen, Scamacca 46/Aston Villa – Wolverhampton 1-1 (0-1)/Ings 78 – Podence 12/Crystal Palace – Tottenham 0-4 (0-0)/Kane 48, 54, Doherty 68, Son 73/ThursdayChelsea – Man.City 0-1 (0-0)/Mahrez 63/
