Chelsea suffered a first defeat of the season at the hands of Manchester City as Gabriel Jesus’s second-half goal settled an intriguing contest at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues were condemned by a deflected effort early in the second half from the visitors’ Brazilian striker, whose quick turn and finish was aided by a nick off Jorginho to beat Edouard Mendy.
Despite an upturn in search of an equaliser, Thomas Tuchel’s side were unable to trouble City’s goalkeeper Ederson and finished the game without a shot on target.
Tuchel made four changes from last weekend’s win at Tottenham, with Edouard Mendy fit to return in goal and Timo Werner drafted in to start up front alongside Romelu Lukaku.
That means a tactical tweak to 3-5-2 from the start, with N’Golo Kante joining Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho in central midfield.
Meanwhile, Reece James was preferred at right-back, meaning captain Cesar Azpilicueta moved into the back three and Thiago Silva dropped to the bench.
City also made four changes from their most recent Premier League outing, a 0-0 draw at home to Southampton, with Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden among those back in the side.
Guardiola’s penchant for mixing things up saw Foden start up front, though it was down the flanks that City initially probed, forcing James, Azpilicueta and Toni Rudiger into some strong early shepherding by the touchline.
Mendy was also dominant in the box, claiming a couple of early corners swung into his area as the reigning champions of the country started quickest against the reigning champions of the continent.
A fast start from the visitors finally brought about the breakthrough as Jesus’s effort beat Mendy with the help of a deflection off Jorginho, making it the first goal from open play to be conceded by Chelsea in the league this season.
Chelsea (3-5-2) Mendy; Azpilicueta (c), Christensen, Rudiger; James (Thiago Silva 29), Kante (Havertz 60), Jorginho (Loftus-Cheek 76), Kovacic, Alonso; Lukaku, Werner
Unused subs Arrizabalaga, Chilwell, Chalobah, Saul, Hudson-Odoi, Ziyech
Booked Alonso 77; Christensen 78; Rudiger 84
Manchester City Ederson; Walker, Dias (c), Laporte, Cancelo; Rodri, Silva, De Bruyne (Mahrez 80); Jesus, Foden (Fernandinho 87), Grealish (Sterling 87).
Unused subs Steffen, Ake, Stones, Lavia, Palmer, Torres.
Scorer, Jesus 53, Booked Laporte 65; Dias 90+5, Referee – Michael Oliver and Crowd 40,036.
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