Kevin de Bruyne came back to haunt his former side as Manchester City moved 13 points clear of Chelsea with a 1-0 win on Saturday afternoon.
Premier League
Result: Manchester City 1-0 Chelsea
Date: 15 January 2022
Venue: Etihad
Pep Guardiola re-called John Stones, Phil Foden, Raheem Sterling and Jack Grealish while the likes of Nathan Ake, Ruben Dias and Gabriel Jesus were left on the bench.
For the Blues, manager Thomas Tuchel recalled N'Golo Kante, Hakim Ziyech and Thiago Silva after the Carabao Cup win over London rivals Tottenham Hotspur this week.
The Citizens enjoyed most of the possession in the early parts of the first half, but they struggled to break down a stubborn Blues defence marshalled by Antonio Rudiger and Silva.
After spells of domination, the home side were nearly gifted a goal seven minutes before the break when Mateo Kovacic's poor back pass sent Grealish clear on goal, but the midfielder was unable to beat Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Chelsea had their first big chances a few minutes after the break when Kovacic slipped Romelu Lukaku through on goal, but Ederson rushed off his line to thwart to the Belgian striker.
The deadlock would eventually arrive in the 70th minute and it came via former Chelsea player Kevin de Bruyne, who found the back of the net with a stunning effort from just outside the box.
Chelsea had introduced Timo Werner and Callum Hudson-Odoi just before the goal, while Mason Mount was brought on with nine minutes left on the clock to help bag an equaliser.
The changes had no major effect on the encounter as Guardiola's men were able to see out the closing stages with ease to claim a 12th straight league win.
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