Algerian international substitute, Riyad Mahrez, led his defending champions Manchester City to victory over Chelsea, by scoring the only goal, 1-0, in the summit of the nineteenth stage matches of the English Football League, which concluded Thursday.
Mahrez scored the three points three minutes following entering the field instead of Portuguese Bernardo Silva.
City II, with 39 points, continued its pursuit of leaders Arsenal, reducing the gap between them to five points, taking advantage of the Gunners’ goalless draw once morest Newcastle III on Tuesday.
Chelsea continued its series of disappointments following it settled for a 1-1 draw once morest Nottingham Forest in the 18th stage at the beginning of the new year, to sit in tenth place with 25 points, ten points behind Manchester United IV, the last qualifying center for the Champions League competition.
Chelsea also won only one of their last eight league matches, which was a 2-0 win over Bournemouth.
The first half came closed, as extreme caution appeared on the two teams, and only some shy chances were violated, amid a slight advantage in favor of Chelsea.
The “Blues” advantage came in the first half, despite the setback he suffered at the start of the match, following the international duo, Raheem Sterling and American Christian Pulisic, were injured and did not complete the match, so that his problems increased with the absence of striker Mason Mount, Reese James, Ben Chilwell, and Frenchman N’Golo Kante, due to injury.
City did not give up
Chelsea coach Graham Potter said in an interview with Sky Sports following the end of the match, “We cannot complain regarding these injuries. We just have to adapt to the situation. The players on the field did everything we asked them to do, and Manchester City did not give up.”
Barely 5 minutes following the start whistle, Sterling left injured following an intervention by John Stones on him in the middle of the field, before Pulisic, who complained of pain, came out following an intervention from Stones himself.
The hosts almost snatched the lead before the break, following substitute Karney Chukwumica’s shot hit the post.
Spanish City coach Pep Guardiola made a series of adjustments to his squad early in the second half, introducing Swiss defender Manuel Akanji and Rico Luis instead of Kyle Walker and Portuguese Joao Cancelo.
City’s performance improved greatly following the substitutions and almost scored the goal of progress, but Aki’s shot bounced off the post, then Belgian Kevin De Bruyne tried from a curled ball to shake the London club’s net, but his ball passed far.
Guardiola continued his rapid changes and pushed the Algerian Mahrez and Jack Grealish, in what appeared to be an attempt to speed up the attacking pace of his team. Indeed, the visitors dominated possession and most of the meeting opportunities in the second half.
Guardiola’s substitutions resulted in the first goal, as Mahrez managed to open the scoring following a cross from Grealish 3 minutes following entering the green rectangle, and the Algerian international player hit a ball in the far corner to give City the lead.
It seemed clear that Coach Potter’s team was not able to make any reaction, as it lacked effectiveness in the absence of its offensive arsenal. The substitutions he made by pushing Connor Calagher and Jamaican Louis Hall Amri Hutchinson did not work.
Despite Chelsea’s decline, he got a golden opportunity to equalize in the first minute of stoppage time through Hull, but his shot went centimeters over the crossbar.
