The Manchester City – Chelsea player ratings were fun to dish out as a tight, tense clash played out at the Etihad Stadium.
[ MORE: How to watch Premier League in USA ]
Man City were victorious to continue their surge towards another Premier League title, while Chelsea hung in there but their attackers had an off day.
Pep Guardiola got the better of Thomas Tuchel for the second time this season in the PL and that is pretty much that for Chelsea’s title hopes.
Below are the Manchester City – Chelsea player ratings out of 10, with analysis on each player who featured.
Manchester City player ratings
Ederson: 7 – Great stop to deny Lukaku in the second half. Calm on the ball. Didn’t have much to do.
Kyle Walker: 7 – Great pace and always an option in attack. Never troubled defensively.
John Stones: 7 – Turned by Lukaku once in the first half but solid aside from that on his return. Dangerous on set-pieces.
Aymeric Laporte: 7 – Never looked out of control. Calm on the ball and oozed class.
Joao Cancelo: 8 – Another stellar display. Some lovely passes into midfield and set up De Bruyne’s goal. Class.
Rodri: 8 – Mopped up everything and gave City’s defense a shield. Snuffed out Chelsea’s attacks.
Bernardo Silva: 7 – Couldn’t impact the game going forward but always wanted the ball.
Kevin de Bruyne: 9 – Brilliant goal. Brilliant display. Won the battle vs. Kante. Sensational. Big-game player.
Jack Grealish: 6 – Missed a good chance in first half. Never stopped running but not at his best in final actions.
Phil Foden: 6.5 – Lovely run and cross in first half. Chelsea kept a close eye on him. Lively.
Raheem Sterling: 8.5 – So dangerous, especially in first half. Alonso had a nightmare against him. Back to his best.
Substitutes
Ilkay Gundogan (85′ on for De Bruyne): N/A
Gabriel Jesus (88′ on for Foden): N/A
Chelsea player ratings
Kepa Arrizabalaga: 7 – Good stop to deny Grealish and kicking was great. Did well as the stand-in for Mendy.
Antonio Rudiger: 7 – Did his best to stop Grealish cutting in from the left and did it well.
Thiago Silva: 7 – Held things together well but could have got out to De Bruyne’s shot quicker?
Malang Sarr: 6.5 – Tough after coming in for Christensen after playing in midweek too. Did okay though.
Cesar Azpiilicueta: 6 – Defensively solid but couldn’t get forward at all. Chelsea miss Reece James badly.
N’Golo Kante: 6 – A rare day where he was dominated. De Bruyne and Silva buzzed around and overwhelmed him. Turned by KDB on the winning goal too.
Mateo Kovacic: 6 – Smooth as ever on the ball but couldn’t dictate the tempo of this game as he usually likes to.
Marcos Alonso: 4.5 – Booked early and couldn’t stop Sterling. Lack of pace was ruthlessly exposed by City.
Hakim Ziyech: 4 – Lost the ball on plenty of occasions and just kept picking the wrong pass time and time again. Lacking in confidence.
Christian Pulisic: 4.5 – See above. Worked hard and did his best defensively but Chelsea just didn’t get the ball to him, and when they did he slowed things down too often.
Romelu Lukaku: 5.5 – Made some great runs in the first half but didn’t finish his big chance in the second. On a collision course with Tuchel over Chelsea’s playing style? Most probably.
Substitutes
Callum Hudson-Odoi (68′ on for Pulisic): 6 – Tried to get on the ball and make things happen.
Timo Werner (68′ on for Ziyech): 6 – Worked his socks off but City held firm.
Mason Mount (81′ on for Mount): 6 – Struggled to get on the ball. Why didn’t he start?
