Guardiola reaction to goals shows his priority
When Riyad Mahrez curled in a beautiful free kick to put Manchester City ahead against Chelsea, he ran to his bench to celebrate with the whole squad. That allowed Pep Guardiola to collar Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez for a word, before bringing in Sergio Gomez and Cole Palmer. The latter pair were teaming up on the left flank, and Guardiola engaged them in a very animated tactical conversation after Chelsea had got in behind Gomez a couple of times, and Palmer had just missed a golden opportunity on the break.
Moments later, Gomez and Palmer combined to win a corner, which Kai Havertz opted to punch rather than head. And when the referee reviewed the potential penalty that led to City's second, Guardiola wasn't interested in the decision and more in giving centre-backs Aymeric Laporte and Manu Akanji some equally energetic instructions. Only when Phil Foden turned in a third before halftime did Guardiola raise his arms in celebration and relax.
Palmer shows promise and frustration
Taking the 'Jack Grealish' role as left-winger tasked with controlling possession, this was a chance for Cole Palmer to influence a game and show Guardiola why he should be starting more. He started well on the left, keeping the ball but also looking to get at his defender, and should have scored when he placed wide in acres of space after the Chelsea defence parted.
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This was one of the more impressive tactical performances from the youngster, and he will be pleased to see City's cup run continue, but the frustration from Guardiola was clear at that missed chance, and the fact that Chelsea were allowed to target Sergio Gomez on a few occasions. He's slowly improving, and showing his promise, but may feel he missed an opportunity to really make an impact on a rare start.
Cancelo's slide continues
After his failed right-wing experiment against Chelsea on Thursday, Joao Cancelo may have hoped to return to the left-back slot in the cup to rediscover his fitness levels, but while Kyle Walker was seemingly forgiven for his first-half performance at Stamford Bridge, Cancelo was overlooked in favour of Sergio Gomez at left-back in the cup.
That could be part of a long-term plan to give Gomez minutes, but if Cancelo was City's first-choice left-back then he should get priority if he needs game time. Instead, Cancelo was overlooked at left-back for the fifth time in six games since his red card vs Fulham. With Guardiola praising Nathan Ake in that position this week, has Cancelo fallen further down the pecking order on the left-hand side?
Mahrez's resurgence shows no sign of stopping
If Cancelo is indeed out of favour, then he could do worse than look to Riyad Mahrez, who had to wait until October for his first competitive goal of the season and had been essentially dropped from City's Premier League starting XI to scrap for minutes in the cups and Champions League dead rubbers.
But since the October international break, Mahrez now has eight goals and two assists in 12 appearances, and is in undroppable form, after another two goals against Chelsea. One, a perfect free kick, was followed by the decisive pass for Kyle Walker to set up Phil Foden for City's third before he confidently dispatched a penalty, and Marez has undoubtedly played his way back into Guardiola's first-choice plans. Cancelo may have to copy that example after his own struggles of late.
Arsenal could add to daunting fixture list
City have now drawn Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal in four of their five domestic cup games so far this season - and assuming Arsenal don't slip up against Oxford on Monday, they will compound an incredibly tough January schedule that shows no sign of letting up.
After this double-header with Chelsea, City face a long trip to Southampton in a Carabao Cup quarter-final before taking on a resurgent Manchester United next weekend. After that comes a home clash with Tottenham, a clash with Julen Lopetegui's improved Wolves, and then the potential cup clash with Arsenal - plus a potential two-legged League Cup semi-final. And in February, Spurs and Arsenal await again, as do RB Leipzig in the Champions League.
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