Manchester City handed Chelsea their third loss in four games by beating the Blues 2-0 in the EFL Cup third round.
Riyad Mahrez's excellent free-kick opened the scoring early in the second half before Julian Alvarez doubled the Citizens' lead five minutes later with a predator's finish. Chelsea should've taken the lead through young left-back Lewis Hall just before half-time, but City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega denied him in a series of impressive saves on his night to shine.
Graham Potter, on the other hand, had a much more miserable night, with his Chelsea side stuttering after a promising start to his tenure. The same can't be said for this relentless City team, though - even without Erling Halaand - who're looking to reclaim the EFL Cup in 2023, a favourite trophy of Pep Guardiola's.
Here are six talking points from the Etihad.
1. Southgate's bench boost
Looming over City and Chelsea's clash was the upcoming announcement of England's World Cup squad. Gareth Southgate will confirm his 26-man roster at 2pm on Thursday and would've been delighted to see Kalvin Phillips take his place on the Citizens' bench ahead of kick-off as well as hearing Pep Guardiola's comments.
"Of course it's good," the City boss said to Sky Sports of Phillips pre-match. "He arrived at the beginning of the season with an injury from the previous season, some issues in the shoulder and the calf during the year, but now he's completely, fully recovered. He's trained really good. It's good to see him back in the squad and of course the target for him is the [England] national team."
2. Sterling's warm reception
There was no sky blue carpet rolled out, but Raheem Sterling returned to the Etihad for the first time since his summer departure in this one. Starting on the bench for Chelsea, who he joined for £50million in July after seven years at City, the England star was given a warm welcome back to Manchester - just as Guardiola had asked his supporters to do.
"I definitely hope so," the Catalan coach declared pre-match. "I always like the clubs when they welcome the guys who have been here many years and have been a key figure and had an important role in our team in all these years." Guardiola's wish was granted, as City fans applauded ex-hero Sterling during his warm-up on the touchline midway through the first half and when he entered as a substitute in the 68th minute.
3. Hall's near-perfect half
When Lewis Hall went to bed last night, knowing that he'll be starting for Chelsea's first team for just the second time, he'd have dreamt of an opportunity like the one that was presented to him on the stroke of half-time. After an impressive half as the Blues' left wing-back, 18-year-old Hall raced down the flank as Chelsea broke away on a counter attack.
Christian Pulisic managed to offload the ball towards the teenager and Hall easily chopped inside City's budding right-back, Rico Lewis, to open up a scoring chance. But he agonisingly shot straight at Stefan Ortega in a literal head-in-hands moment for the Stamford Bridge starlet, who'd been the standout player on both sides in the first 45 minutes and had a strong second half to boot.
4. Mahrez breaks the deadlock
Just as the hosts were beginning to curse their lack in the first eight minutes after half-time, with Edouard Mendy denying the lively Jack Grealish twice in quick succession, Riyad Mahrez took matters into his own hands. The Algerian came inside in vintage fashion before being scythed down by Trevoh Chalobah on the edge of Chelsea's penalty area.
Mahrez and Grealish stood over the free-kick, but there was only one man who was ever going to hit. City's No.26 lashed it into the back of the net, leaving Mendy rooted to his position after the stationary Kalidou Koulibaly bizarrely allowed the ball to fly past him. The Blues had been breached and it wouldn't be long before they'd be punished again.
5. Alvarez continues to shine
If you only saw the finish of Julian Alvarez's goal, you'd be giving Sergio Aguero's heir a serious disservice. Spending much of maiden campaign in Manchester playing second fiddle to Erling Haaland, who's yet to start a game in November due to injury, the 22-year-old Argentine got his opportunity once again on Wednesday and made it count.
Picking out Mahrez with a superb cross-field pass, Alvarez scurried into the box and tapped home a rebound from his teammate's parried effort to make it three goal three games. He's scored in each of them and also notched two assists against Sevilla last week. Safe to say Haaland's understudy is filling the void.
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6. Ortega's hallmark saves
Being second choice being Ederson can't be an easy task, as Ortega has found out this season. The former Arminia Bielefeld goalkeeper was brought to City this summer thanks to his exceptional ball-playing ability, but he can also keep it out of the net, too.
Just after Alvarez's goal, which ultimately sealed the win, Ortega pulled off a superb save to deny Hall once again, sprawling across his goal. After Chelsea's desperate quadruple substitution, the German went one better and spectacularly got down to save Mason Mount's close-range effort. Surely too late for a World Cup call-up, but Ortega did nothing to dent his future chances on Wednesday.
There was almost a nervy finish after a bit of pinball in the City box. After a slew of efforts, Chelsea finally found the net through Kai Havertz, only to be called offside after his strike hit Nathan Ake and cannoned into the back of the net. Fortunately for Ortega - who was named Man of the Match - the Blues' consolation goal was quickly ruled out, and the Citizens marched on to the fourth round.
