Chelsea vs Manchester City Live score and Commentary, EPL 2017/18

IT FINISHES 1-0 in MANCHESTER CITY's FAVOUR!

Our prediction for the match was a 1-1 draw but it has not come to that and Chelsea are the guilty party here. Toothless and dull in attack, they found it hard to break down Manchester City at Stamford Bridge of all places. City sit atop the table having scored 1 goal more than their Manchester rivals who pulled off yet another 4-0 win over Crystal Palace.

But it was pure tactical brilliance from Pep tonight. When City shut shop, they shut shop for good. Chelsea's attacks were all nullified and they stretched them to the point Chelsea were constantly defending with 5 men at the back with Kante and Bakayoko helping out in the centre. To add salt to the wounds, Morata had to limp off after feeling his hamstring. Conte's men will hope that it doesn't keep Morata sidelined for a long time because boy, did they miss him!

Once again it was the Kevin De Bruyne who made the difference. Oh, Chelsea, why did you ever let the lad leave? With a scintillating strike, that too with his weaker foot, he found a way past the giant Courtois who hurled himself in the air in vain.

And that's that from Stamford Bridge. Signing off, yours truly, Shambhu Ajith. You can give me a piece of your mind if I've been as dull as Chelsea tonight, on Twitter- @goddamnhunter

Arrividerci!

93' PEEEEPPPPP! PEEEEP! PEEEEP! City are attacking and Walker walks it out to FULL TIME

92' Danilo in for De Bruyne!
Run the clock down, that's right, Pep. The goalscorer gets an ovation. Much deserved. What a player he is.

91' Chance for Chelsea! Cleared.
Kante feeds one to Alonso on the left. Gets it back and sends it to Rudiger. Willian receives it. Willian passes it to Azpilicueta. Azpilicueta's cross is cleared for a corner!

91' Pedro is flagged offside. That's just lazy from Pedro especially in stoppage time with his team trailing.

89' OH! CHRISTENSEN HEADS IT OVER!

Great leap from Christensen but his header was nowhere near that level. Fabregas whips it in from the right flank off a set-piece. Christensen should have done better after doing so well to climb and meet the ball in the air.

89' Yellow card for Otamendi. That's just cynical from Otamendi!
What was the need for that?

87' Chelsea are in a hurry now. Took them a while. A long speculative ball is floated into the City half for Pedro to chase but Ederson sweeps well and comes charging out of the box to deal with the danger.

86' Silva tries to put a ball in the corridor of uncertainty from the left flank. But no one's there and Alonso heads it away for a corner. The corner is floated into the box by De Bruyne but Fernandinho's header is tame and Ederson gathers comfortably.

84' OH OH OH! RUDIGER WITH A GOALLINE CLEARANCE!

First contribution from Gundogan- a sweet through ball to Sterling on the right flank. He cuts it back for Jesus who takes it on the full and connects ever so sweetly but his curler which was headed for the top right corner is headed away by Antonio Rudiger. Chelsea are still in it.

83' Gundogan in for Leroy Sane!

The German will look to nip Chelsea attacks in the bud and that's not good for the hosts.

81' Conte looking restless in the tactical area and why wouldn't he be? The champions will need to pull a rabbit out of the hat, it looks like.

79' It's City with the industry and the enterprise once again. But they still can't inspire a moment of incisive magic and the Chelsea box has still not been ploughed. It wasn't for De Bruyne's goal either. That's all the credit Chelsea are going to get tonight if this is how we end the night.

77' Another chance goes begging for Chelsea!
Willian mails it across to Alonso on the left flank. He turns around and sends the ball back to the centre. Azpilicueta is freed up on the right flank on the edge of the box. But his cross is uncharacteristically poor and Ederson plucks it out of the air with ease.

76' Willian frees up Alonso down the left flank. Alonso delivers a good, low ball into the box but Pedro optimistically backheels it to the penalty spot in search of a unicorn! There was no one there.

74' One Silva goes, another one enters. Substitution for Manchester City!
Bernardo Silva in for David Silva.

73' Finally, some threat from Chelsea!
Willian frees up Azpilicueta on the wing who whips one in first time. Batshuayi was waiting but Otamendi clears it away for a corner. Nothing comes from that though.
Chelsea will need to show up and deliver in the final third now. They've been tepid so far.

72' Pedro comes in for Hazard!
Batshuayi in for Bakayoko!
Hazard hasn't been anywhere near his best but special players produce special moments and Chelsea fans would have ideally wanted the Belgian to stay. However, it's not going to be Hazard's night at the Stamford Bridge. Because Antonio Conte says so.

71' Chelsea have looked toothless in attack today, especially after Morata was taken off (owing to a hamstring injury).

69' City have scored like they've done throughout this campaign so far. Now Chelsea have a problem on their hands. They are going to have to break a resilient City defence if they're to conjure up even a point from this battle.

67' GOAL! DE BRUYNE! CITY LEAD!

All KEVIN DE BRUYNE THERE! Silva does a give and go but he doesn't need to be used. De Bruyne takes 3 defenders on and drives ahead to the edge of the box and belts one into the right top corner with his left foot. What a player. Of course he was going to be the difference.

65' OH SILVA OH! 2 times in a minute!
Silva frees up Sterling on the right flank. The first time, he cuts it back to Silva and Silva checks himself before unleashing a shot. But Christensen intervenes with a great tackle. The second time though, nobody gets to the end of a Sterling low-cross after Silva once again frees him up!

64' De Bruyne with a vicious ball in! Jesus can't connect, angle was too hard anyway!
City trying to work the width. From left flank to the right. De Bruyne whips another low cross in but jesus can't connect.

62' Chelsea have been flagged offside 6 times already! It seems it's just not us spectators who get a little too excited, eh?

60' SAVED! HAZARD SHOULD HAVE PASSED!

Fabregas strokes it to Hazard who charges into the box but he decides to shoot and not cross. Ederson parries it away. It was always going to be saved though.

60' Freekick for Chelsea from a dangerous area!

Fernandinho brings Hazard down, 25 yards away from goal. Willian and Fabregas discussing duties.

59' Chelsea trying to stretch City but to no avail. It's starting to dull down a bit with hardly anything creative happening on either side.

58' Willian is bumped to the ground by Fernandinho just as Chelsea were trying to break away. No cards yet in this game.

56' Chelsea are pressing higher in the second half. And City will try to exploit that. They have been unsuccessful so far but football is a game of 90 mins, innit?

55' Manchester City starting to threaten. But for all their efforts, they still can't find a free man in a dangerous area and Chelsea deal with it well.

54' Oh STERLING! CLOSE!
Sterling receives the ball from the corner. He tries to whip it in on the volley with his left foot. Flies into the stands.

53' Sane steps on the gas. He cuts in from the right and does a one-two with Silva but Silva's ball is a little too heavy. Cleared away. Corner for City.

52' Hazard down the left flank can't squeeze a ball through Stones and Walker to Willian who was waiting in the box.

51' No penalty for City says the ref after Jesus falls after a slight nudge from Christensen!

48' Chance for City! Corner!
Delph with a very good ball to Silva who lays it off to Sterling on the wing. But Sterling's cross gets cut out and sent for a corner. Off the corner, Leroy Sane tries to get rid of a couple of Chelsea defenders with his trickery but there's just too much traffic to wriggle out of.

47' A rather slow start to the proceedings in the second half. No off the whistle theatrics. Just feeling their way around are both the teams.

45' Silva tries to free Sane down on the left flank but Rudiger chips in with a good sliding tackle and that's that.

45' HERE WE ARE AGAIN. PEEEEEP! WE'RE OFF IN THE SECOND HALF!

45+2' PEEEEEEEP! GOALLESS HALF! It is halftime. It remains 0-0.

Manchester City have had the better chances but Chelsea are not too far behind. Let's hope the PEP talk at halftime inspires some magic. Who doesn't like magic?

45+1' De Bruyne has got his wicked filthy boot today. He's been as creative as he's been callous with his challenges. One more foul.

45' We have 2 minutes added on!

43' CLOSE! COURTOIS WITH A GOOD SAVE!
De Bruyne puts the ball into the box from a corner. But a sweet header is well negotiated with and the score remains 0-0.

42' Hazard still trying to find his feet here. No magic yet. And that is a bit of a letdown. Mailman's gotta deliver after all, eh?

40' Close from City!
Sane to Delph on the left flank. Delph pets it to De Bruyne who gives it to Sterling and gets it back. He then floats one into the box where Jesus tries to flick it on but Sane didn't arrive on time.

38' Rather substandard from Willian. He hits it straight at the one-man wall, or should I say one-man formality?

37' De Bruyne brings Willian down on the left flank. Good position for Chelsea to get a cross in from the set piece. And Willian is right there! Good timing.

36' Good play from City!
Sane and Silva combining well down the left side. Silva has been a livewire in attack so far. But his cross is stubbed out.

35' City trying to feel their way into the danger area but Chelsea are organized at the back and keep sending them back to square one.

33' Trouble for Chelsea! MORATA is struggling. He is getting subbed! WILLIAN comes on!
He is feeling his hamstring and is walking away from the ground. That is so heartbreaking for the Chelsea fans especially on such an important night! Willian is on. That's no downgrade anyway. Will Chelsea miss Morata in front of goal? Only time will tell. Well, like an hour of it.

32' Sterling tries to drag it back from a diagonal ball from the left flank but Chelsea defenders are first to it.

Chelsea vs Manchester City Live score and Commentary, EPL 2017/18

Chelsea 0-1 Manchester City FT! De Bruyne 68'