City won 1-0 at Stamford Bridge to move six points clear of the Blues in the Premier League.
Conte started with a 5-3-2 formation rather than the 3-4-3 which helped Chelsea to the title last term.
The Italian switched to last season’s tactics later in the game but despite not getting the right result, Nevin thinks the Chelsea boss still made the right decision.
“When you consider we looked better when we reverted to 3-4-3 late on, there will be those who think that it might have been a mistake to change last season’s winning formula,” he wrote in his column on Chelsea’s website.
"But I reckon that is an over-simplistic reading of this game.
“For one thing, Manchester City were going at 100mph for the first 70 minutes and they definitely didn’t have the same energy levels to press high later on, so there was more space for the likes of Cesc (Fabregas) as the game progressed.
“Also, teams that have been too open against City this season have been destroyed; think of Liverpool at Anfield when they went down to 10 men and still tried to have a go.
“The ensuing 5-0 drubbing could have been 7-0 or 8-0 in the end.
“Remember also that the 5-3-2 had worked well against Atletico Madrid in the week and it is a system that stresses certain players less in terms of expending energy.
“Had we gone with a 3-4-3 with City that bit more rested than us, then the gaps behind our wide midfielders could have been monumentally shown up in the first half.”
Nevin also hailed Andreas Christensen's display against Man City as a breakthrough performance.
Chelsea will be hoping to get back to winning ways against bottom side Crystal Palace after the international break.
They head to Selhurst Park on October 14 for a 3pm kick-off.
