Kevin De Bruyne’s brilliant goal against his former club gave Manchester City a deserved victory at Stamford Bridge.
De Bruyne’s 67th-minute strike left Premier League leaders City six points clear of Chelsea, who played much of the game without a recognised striker after Alvaro Morata went off injured.
Worryingly for the champions, the in-form Spaniard seemed to be in some discomfort as he was replaced by Willian 10 minutes before half-time.
Just as Blues boss Antonio Conte was preparing to bring on Michy Batshuayi in an attempt to give his team a much-needed presence up front, ex-Chelsea man De Bruyne broke the deadlock in emphatic fashion.
City swept forward from the back and De Bruyne exchanged passes with Gabriel Jesus before sending an unstoppable left-footed shot beyond Thibaut Courtois from near the edge of the penalty area.
Courtois had been the busier goalkeeper, producing a number of saves, including an outstanding stop to keep out Fernandinho’s diving header from De Bruyne’s right-wing corner shortly before half-time.
Batshuayi was eventually introduced along with Pedro but Chelsea rarely looked like finding an equaliser.
They would have conceded a second late on but for Antonio Rudiger’s header off the line to deny Jesus.
Chelsea: Courtois, Rudiger, Christensen, Cahill, Azpilicueta, Kante, Fabregas, Bakayoko (Batshuayi 72), Alonso, Hazard (Pedro 72), Morata (Willian 35).
Subs not used: Caballero, Zappacosta, Kenedy, Moses.
This post was last modified on 01/10/2017