Chelsea 0-1 Manchester City RESULT Premier League: Kevin De Bruyne goal wins it to throw down title gauntlet

Thanks for joining me tonight.

It was certainly another show of strength from Pep Guardiola's side.

They return to the top of the table with Manchester United the only club keeping up the chase.

Take care and join us again soon!

ROB DRAPER: If the prize will ultimately go to those prepared to be bold, then Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City will replace Chelsea as champions.

No team in this league, not even the free-scoring Manchester United, seeks the initiative and demands the ball as they do.

And it will seemingly take more than the erratic driving of an Amsterdam cabbie to thwart their plans. No Sergio Aguero, no problem: Guardiola still set out to take on the reigning champions in their backyard, outpass and outplay them, and go home with the spoils.

READ THE FULL REPORT HERE

De Bruyne has been limping for the last few minutes and Guardiola doesn't hesitate, taking him off at the first opportunity. They'll hope he's not hurt too badly. He's been superb today.

It's that last action of the game as Atkinson blows the whistle.

A frustrating day for the Premier League champions. They were completely played off their own pitch but defended superbly for much of the game.

In the end, it was a bit of pure magic from De Bruyne that gave City a deserved win.

92 mins: Chelsea's best passing move of the match sees them win a ball with just a minute to go.

Courtois starts to come up but Fabregas opts to take it quickly before delivering the cross from a better angle.

It's a good ball, but is cleared and that could be that.

90 mins: Fabregas plays the free-kick into the box and Christensen jumps highest to meet it with his head. He turns it towards goal, but it's over the bar.

Three minutes of injury time to be played

Otamendi gives away a silly free-kick to give Chelsea a chance to cross the ball into the box. Willian was going nowhere on the edge and Otamendi flew in with a crazy tackle.

89 mins: Chelsea are the ones trailing here, but you wouldn't know it as Manchester City continue to dominate possession and the territory.

85 mins: Ilkay Gundogan is immediately involved and sets Sterling off down the right side. He dinks a cross to the unmarked Gabriel Jesus, who somehow directs a volley into the far right-hand side of the goal.

Thibaut Courtois doesn't even more, but Rudiger makes a heroic clearer with his head to keep Chelsea in this game, at least as far as the scoreboard goes.

82 mins: Manchester City may be leading, but their advantage appears to have confused their players a little.

Naturally, they want to attack with the ball and press without it, but now they have something to lose and aren't sure whether to sit back and counter or carry on as they were.

77 mins: Now Marcos Alonso gets the ball in a crossing position and he finds Pedro in the box.

The ball is just behind the Spaniard, so he opts to flick it back to the edge of the box, exactly where Hazard would have been if he was still on the pitch.

Unfortunately for the Blues, there was no one there to meet the lay-off but they're gaining ground here.

75 mins: Chelsea come out of their shell in search of an equaliser and Azpilicueta gets himself into a position to cross down the right-hand side.

His cross is good and Manchester City are forced to concede a corner to clear. The resulting corner is played in by Fabregas and the chance comes to nothing.

Not a lot for Chelsea, but certainly the most they have offered this half!

That is all of Antonio Conte's cards played having used a substitution in the first half for the injured Morata.

Conte obviously didn't trust Batshuayi to replace the Spaniard but he's on now and has a chance to impress.

70 mins: Manchester City just had to score then.

I couldn't type fast enough, but Chelsea had cut themselves out two fantastic chances before De Bruyne eventually struck.

First, Sterling found Silva free in the box and the Spaniard delayed just a split second too long to see his strike blocked by a defender.

Seconds later, Sterling was again in behind and found Jesus in the box only for Chelsea to clear.

The rest is history....

67 mins: A stunning goal from Kevin De Bruyne.

Lovely build up play as De Bruyne exchanges passes with Gabriel Jesus before unleashing a pearl of a shot with his left foot from the D outside Chelsea's box.

It's straight into the top corner and Courtois has no chance.

Manchester City finally lead!

65 mins: Manchester City look to go more direct as De Bruyne plays in an early cross to Gabriel Jesus.

The Brazilian manages to turn to cross into a shot on target, but it's easy for Courtois.

City will be getting impatient now.

Fernandinho goes into the book for the foul on Hazard earlier.

61 mins: Amateur stuff from Manchester City.

They forget to mark Eden Hazard on the left-hand side and the free-kick is played to him with a simple pass.

His resulting shot is saved by the goalkeeper and Manchester City can clear, but a worrying lapse of concentration from the defence.

60 mins: Chelsea finally get the ball in the Manchester City box.

Eden Hazard, probably for the first time in the match, causes problems and Fernandinho brings him down.

The resulting free-kick is about 30-yards out and both Fabregas and Willian are interested.

58 mins: Sterling is having plenty of joy down the left side and takes on Rudiger to good effect. His first cross is blocked, but comes back to him and his second makes it in.

Again, it's only half cleared and Silva fires it across the face of goal. It's Cahill's turn to boot it clear and anywhere will do for Chelsea right now.

Manchester City are turning up the dial and Chelsea are cooking.

55 mins: Leroy Sane shouts for a penalty after being dragged back by Marcos Alonso.

There is certainly an arm in there from the Spaniard but Sane's dramatic fall puts Atkinson off.

Manchester City do get a corner from the incident and the half-clearance falls to a confident Sterling on the edge, and he unleashes a volley with his left foot. It's over, but not too far over. Good effort.

53 mins: Unless Antonio Conte told his Chelsea players to do exactly as they did in the first-half, they weren't listening during the break.

Once again, they're struggling to keep possession, even in their own half, and it seems only a matter of time before Manchester City get in behind and score.

Until they do, however, this game remains up for grabs.

50 mins: Manchester City push forward and win a corner from Rudiger.

Willian clears the corner but it comes straight back and David Silva plays in a lovely ball to Sterling inside the box. He makes it to the byline but his cross is blocked and the resulting corner comes to nothing.

Manchester City have dominated the first five minutes of the second half, here. So it's as we were thus far. 

48 mins: Courtois just kicked the ball to Ederson on the other side of the pitch.

Sums it up so far

46 mins: The players are out and Willian gets us back underway.

Pray for goals.

No changes for either side.

Everything points towards Manchester City winning this game, but Guardiola will be concerned with their inefficiency in front of goal.

However, Conte will be having words with his team in the dressing room and will certainly be thinking about a couple of tactical changes.

Willian coming on for Morata was certainly an interesting choice, especially as it had to be made quickly but gives Chelsea more pace up front.

Manchester City are leaving space in behind and Chelsea's best chance to win this game will be feeding from the break.

Shots: Chelsea 2-9 Manchester City

Pass accuracy: 80%-92%

Chances created: 2-7

Possession: 40%-60%

Manchester City completed passes: 309

Chelsea completed passes: 130

Pep Guardiola will be the happier of the two managers with Manchester City playing very well at the home of the Premier League champions.

However, their dominance has not converted into goals and Chelsea's defence can give themselves a pat on the back for staying organised in the face of relentless pressure.

We'll bring you all the important stats from the first half when we get them/see them on Twitter.

44 mins: Marcos Alonso gives away a free-kick on the left-hand side and Kevin De Bruyne whips in an excellent ball. 

Azpilicueta clears it for a corner and De Bruyne again steps up. It's another great delivery from the Belgian and Fernandinho meets it with a bullet header.

Surely a goal, but Thibaut Courtois, redeeming for his earlier error, makes a fantastic reflex save to keep his cleansheet intact.

42 mins: Bakayoko steals the ball in midfield at sets Willian on his way with Manchester City short at the back.

The crowd urge him to shoot, but he refrains and goes for the through-ball, which is intercepted.

Chelsea attempts to rework the ball but Manchester City are back in numbers and eventually press Hazard to running the ball out of play.

39 mins: Willian gets the better of De Bruyne on the left-wing and draws him into a foul.

Chelsea's team move forward in hope of a chance from the set piece.

The Brazilian steps up to whip in the resulting free-kick and hits it directly at the one-man wall and out for a throw.

It was surely harder to hit Raheem Sterling than hit him, but he manages it.

What a snub to Michy Batshuayi.

Antonio Conte would rather play without a striker than put the Belgian on. He remains on the substitutes bench with a glum face while Willian strips down and comes on for Morata.

Eden Hazard appears to take up the central position with Willian tucking into the central No 10 role.

35 mins: Alvaro Morata is limping and makes a gesture to the bench.

It looks like it's his hamstring and he walks over to converse with Antonio Conte and the physio.

He goes down the tunnel!

His day is over and Willian comes on as a substitute.

33 mins: Chelsea are seeing more of the ball now with Manchester City possibly needing a rest from their relentless closing down.

Saying that, Cahill gets himself into a bit of bother in possession in the centre-circle and ends up playing a hasty pass into the stands and Manchester City regain control.

30 mins: David Silva gets in a pocket of space (again) and plays a one-two with Leroy Sane to burst into the left-hand side of the box and gets away a low shot first time.

It's on target, but Thibaut Courtois beats it away well.

Chelsea go up the other end of the pitch and Hazard works it well with Kante before the Frenchman falls foul of City's offside trap.

28 mins: Chelsea get the ball in the Manchester City box and Azpilicueta gets in a bouncing shot through a number of players after his original cross was half-cleared.

Ederson sees it late and can only parry it away for a corner before collecting the corner easily. 

Manchester City break from the corner and Sterling comes within a whisker of finding a free David Silva in the box with a cross.

Whenever Chelsea attack, Manchester City look dangerous on the break!

23 mins: Chelsea are struggling to get in the game here.

Fabregas gives the ball away in a dangerous area and City have numbers forward to turn it into a dangerous attack. A combination of Bakayoko and Kante clear up the mess, but it's another sign that Chelsea are not handling this well.

Of course, Manchester City do need to cut themselves out a chance before they can score, which they haven't managed yet.

This sums it up nicely:

City passes: 161

Chelsea passes: 57

19 mins: Ederson makes himself useful to cut out a potentially dangerous long ball, coming well off his line to intercept it before Morata can get close.

He looks calm on the ball, doesn't he? At least more so than Claudio Bravo.

Meanwhile, Manchester City get a free-kick and De Bruyne kicks it over every player and out for a goal-kick. Rare mistake from the Belgian, that.

16 mins: A bit of end-to-end action at last.

N'Golo Kante again gets himself into the Manchester City box on the right-hand side and almost cuts himself out a scoring opportunity with a deft bit of skill.

Manchester City then look dangerous on the break before Fabregas wins it back and appears to release Morata through on goal with an excellent pass.

The striker is adjudged to be offside, and he is...just.

13 mins: Courtois takes his time with a back pass in the six-yard box and Gabriel Jesus closes him down a rapid speed.

The goalkeeper panics, tries to kick it anywhere and slams it against the striker.

It could have easily rebounded into the goal, but goes out for a goal-kick.

What a let off!

11 mins: It's hard to gauge the flow of the game thus far.

Manchester City have probably had about 75 per cent of possession but still haven't taken the ball into Chelsea's box.

Although David Silva's position in between the defence and midfield means he is regularly being left by Chelsea players.

He is the first Manchester City player to have a shot at goal, dragging it wide.

There's obviously a lot a stake for both teams here and neither seems willing to take a risk.

6 mins: Chelsea look happy to let Manchester City pass the ball around, trusting their defence to stay organised amidst a barrage of pressure from Pep Guardiola's men.

Sterling tries to test them as he drives in from the right-wing towards the box. Bakayoko brings him down on the edge of the box. It looked a foul, but Martin Atkinson waves play on.

Replays show the Frenchman got a touch on the ball, so the referee got it right.

3 mins: N'Golo Kante ghosts down the right and chips in a cross to Morata at the near post. We know he's good with his head, but this one is off target.

It would have been special from where he was, but we know he's capable of that.

That's two half-chances for the Spaniard in as many minutes.

2 mins: So Chelsea win a free-kick on the edge of Manchester City's final third. With City preparing themselves for an extended break, Fabregas takes it quick and finds Alvaro Morata in the box.

He can't get the ball out of his feet and Nicolas Otamendi clears it up. A let off for City.

City get the ball rolling...

So the suspension of David Luiz means he is not playing today while Victor Moses is dropped to the bench after playing two games in a week.

That means Cesar Azpilicueta moves from centre-back role to wing-back with Antonio Rudiger filling in the centre.

They are, however, the only changes from the team that lined up against Atletico Madrid.

The players emerge from the tunnel and the biggest game of the Premier League season so far is only minutes away....

Sergio Aguero has been the main man for Manchester City so far this season but Gabriel Jesus has been no slouch in front of goal himself.

The Brazilian has scored four goals in the Premier League but now faces the prospect of leading the line without his experienced team-mate.

Can Jesus thrive on his own? He'll have to if Manchester City are to take anything here.

On Aguero: 'Unfortunately, he had an accident and we are so happy it is not so dangerous but of course to have Aguero in the squad is better than not having him.'

On Delph starting: 'He is playing really good. He is a guy who can play in several positions and he did really well against Shakhtar and West Brom too.'

Manchester United's win over Crystal Palace means they now lead the Premier League by three points.

Pep Guardiola's men will know exactly what is required of them to take it back while Antonio Conte will be aware that a defeat leaves them trailing by six points.

Victory will be massive for both teams here while Jose Mourinho will surely be praying for a bore draw.

So let's bring you all the results from the Premier League's 3pm kick-offs:

Bournemouth 0-0 Leicester

Manchester United 4-0 Crystal Palace

Stoke City 2-1 Southampton

West Brom 2-2 Watford

West Ham 1-0 Swansea

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