Manchester City have knocked Chelsea out of the Carabao Cup third round in a comfortable 2-0 victory at the Etihad on Wednesday. City winger Riyad Mahrez broke the deadlock on 52 minutes with a well-taken free-kick, and forward Julian Alvarez doubled City’s lead shortly after when he converted a rebound from Mahrez’s shot.
The American attacker Christian Pulisic started the game and played 90 minutes. His finest opportunity came early on, but he didn’t take advantage of it because he mishit a ball that was moving across the box.
The outcome means that City will go on trying to win their fifth Carabao Cup in six seasons, while Chelsea, who lost to Liverpool in last year’s final, are eliminated in the third round.
After struggling with injuries since joining City last summer, Kalvin Phillips came off the bench to make a comeback at the 50-minute mark. He will be eagerly awaiting the announcement of England manager Gareth Southgate’s World Cup roster on Thursday.
Guardiola was typically gracious about the efforts of his beaten opponents. “I smell and I see what Graham Potter has done in Brighton and the way that they play. Sooner or later it is going to happen here at Chelsea, so it will be a tough, tough opponent. We did not win against no one.”
Chelsea supporters are having to look a little harder than Guardiola to see signs of things coming together right now. It is four games without a win in the Premier League and they have now lost three of their last four in all competitions. Potter is searching for the right shape and personnel.
This was far from his strongest side but he might have found something, nevertheless. “There was a better structure and a better performance level,” said Potter afterwards. “The team looked closer to what we want it to look like. Overall, I think it was a step forward for us.”
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A statement cup win against Manchester City would have been more useful than a competitive defeat in terms of galvanising this group of players and instilling some belief in the changes that Potter is trying to initiate.
