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Kevin de Bruyne's sixth league goal of the campaign proved decisive for leaders Manchester City at Etihad StadiumKevin De Bruyne produced a moment of world-class quality to tighten Manchester City's stranglehold on the Premier League title race with victory over Chelsea at Etihad Stadium.
The former Chelsea player broke the deadlock in a tight game with a superb curling drive past keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga with 20 minutes left to extend City's lead at the top of the table to an imposing 13 points.
Chelsea had their chances, the best coming when Ederson saved from Romelu Lukaku in the second half but De Bruyne made the difference and City now also have a 14-point advantage over Liverpool, who have two games in hand.
City deserved the win for their greater urgency and possession, Kepa keeping out Jack Grealish with a first-half save, and this represents another significant stride in their quest to retain the Premier League crown.
De Bruyne makes the difference
In a game of this nature, fought out by two well-disciplined sides led by elite managers in Pep Guardiola and Thomas Tuchel, it always seemed likely a mistake or a moment of the highest quality would settle it.
And so it proved as De Bruyne created and finished the decisive move all on his own as City and Chelsea strived to make the breakthrough.
City had not been able to impose sustained threat on Chelsea, despite having so much possession, but they have the calibre of player who can fashion a goal out of nothing.
On this occasion, it was De Bruyne who stepped up, running deep into Chelsea territory in the 70th minute before curling a perfect low right-foot finish before the outstretched left arm of Kepa and into the bottom corner.
Etihad Stadium celebrated in a fashion fitting for a moment of such class and importance and these three points once again give the impression that City's lead in the title race is pretty much unassailable.
Guardiola has stars at the other end too and keeper Ederson played his part with a vital save from Lukaku when he was clean through. He also brought fist pumps and wild applause from his manager when he raced out of the area to head clear and snuff out Chelsea danger late on.
City closed out the win without any serious alarms, Guardiola and his team striking a huge blow as they try to see off the chasing pack - which is effectively Chelsea and Liverpool - at the top of the Premier League.
More to follow.
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Manchester City
Squad number31Player nameEderson
Squad number2Player nameWalker
Squad number5Player nameStones
Squad number14Player nameLaporte
Squad number27Player nameJoão Cancelo
Squad number20Player nameBernardo Silva- Squad number16Player nameRodri
Squad number17Player nameDe Bruyne
Squad number7Player nameSterling
Squad number47Player nameFoden- Squad number10Player nameGrealish
Squad number8Player nameGündogan
Squad number9Player nameGabriel Jesus
Chelsea
Squad number1Player nameArrizabalaga
Squad number2Player nameRüdiger
Squad number6Player nameThiago Silva
Squad number31Player nameSarr
Squad number28Player nameAzpilicueta
Squad number7Player nameKanté
Squad number8Player nameKovacic
Squad number3Player nameAlonso
Squad number10Player namePulisic
Squad number22Player nameZiyech
Squad number9Player nameLukaku
Squad number11Player nameWerner
Squad number19Player nameMount
Squad number20Player nameHudson-Odoi
Line-ups
Man City
Formation 4-3-3
- 31Ederson
- 2Walker
- 5Stones
- 14Laporte
- 27Cancelo
- 20Bernardo Silva
- 16Rodri
- 17De BruyneSubstituted forGündoganat 85'minutes
- 7Sterling
- 47FodenSubstituted forGabriel Jesusat 88'minutes
- 10Grealish
Substitutes
- 3Rúben Dias
- 8Gündogan
- 9Gabriel Jesus
- 13Steffen
- 25Fernandinho
- 79Mbete
- 87McAtee
- 90Lavia
- 97Wilson-Esbrand
Chelsea
Formation 3-4-2-1
- 1Arrizabalaga
- 2Rüdiger
- 6Thiago Silva
- 31Sarr
- 28Azpilicueta
- 7Kanté
- 8KovacicBooked at 32mins
- 3AlonsoBooked at 7minsSubstituted forMountat 81'minutes
- 10PulisicSubstituted forWernerat 69'minutes
- 22ZiyechSubstituted forHudson-Odoiat 69'minutes
- 9Lukaku
Substitutes
- 5Jorginho
- 11Werner
- 12Loftus-Cheek
- 13Bettinelli
- 17Saúl
- 18Barkley
- 19Mount
- 20Hudson-Odoi
- 29Havertz
Referee:Craig Pawson
Attendance:53,319
Live Text
Match ends, Manchester City 1, Chelsea 0.
Second Half ends, Manchester City 1, Chelsea 0.
Foul by Bernardo Silva (Manchester City).
Mateo Kovacic (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Offside, Chelsea. César Azpilicueta tries a through ball, but Timo Werner is caught offside.
Substitution, Manchester City. Gabriel Jesus replaces Phil Foden.
Attempt saved. Jack Grealish (Manchester City) left footed shot from a difficult angle on the left is saved in the top left corner. Assisted by Rodri.
Substitution, Manchester City. Ilkay Gündogan replaces Kevin De Bruyne.
Attempt missed. Phil Foden (Manchester City) left footed shot from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Raheem Sterling.
Substitution, Chelsea. Mason Mount replaces Marcos Alonso.
Foul by Bernardo Silva (Manchester City).
Marcos Alonso (Chelsea) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Attempt blocked. Timo Werner (Chelsea) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by César Azpilicueta.
Goal! Manchester City 1, Chelsea 0. Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) right footed shot from outside the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by João Cancelo.
Substitution, Chelsea. Callum Hudson-Odoi replaces Hakim Ziyech.
Substitution, Chelsea. Timo Werner replaces Christian Pulisic.
Attempt missed. Raheem Sterling (Manchester City) right footed shot from the right side of the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Phil Foden.
Corner, Chelsea. Conceded by Kyle Walker.
Foul by Rodri (Manchester City).
N'Golo Kanté (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
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