Chelsea battle back at Etihad Stadium to beat profligate Manchester City

Chelsea have recovered from a goal down to beat Manchester City 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium and climb further clear at the top of the Premier League table.

An eighth win in a row for the Blues in the top flight, and a second in succession from behind, was secured thanks to a secondhalf turnaround after the hosts failed to make the most of their chances when ahead.

Diego Costa, substitute Willian and Eden Hazard were all on target, cancelling out Gary Cahill's own goal shortly before the interval to make this Chelsea's best run of form in the Prem since 2010.

For Man City, on the other hand, a first league defeat at home under Pep Guardiola ended in disastrous circumstances, as both Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho were shown red cards late on.

With Guardiola reverting formation yet again for the visit of the in-form Blues, going with three at the back in a near likefor-like system when up against their opponents, the opening 10 minutes set the tone for what was to come.

Neither side could create any openings, finding gaps in the final third hard to come by, but Hazard did take on a shot from nothing 15 minutes in to kickstart a gripping period in the match.

It was Aguero who mustered the next sight of goal, looking to add to a tally of 16 goals in 18 games when sending a shot from 22 yards right down the middle for Thibaut Courtois to knock over the bar.

City thought they had the key breakthrough goal a quarter of the way through, only for Fernandinho's powerful header from a Kevin De Bruyne free kick to be correctly ruled out for offside.

The visitors, forced to make a change to their starting lineup for the first time in two months due to Nemanja Matic's injury, were unable to test Claudio Bravo with a single attempt in the first half, though Hazard did get in behind Nicolas Otamendi before looking to tee up a teammate rather than rolling into an unguarded net from a tight angle.

Referee Anthony Taylor and his officials may have got one big call correct in the opening 45 minutes, but the man in the middle's decision to wave play on when David Luiz stepped across Aguero as the last man left home fans furious - the Brazilian being given a reprieve when a red card looked the most likely outcome.

It had been very balanced up until the final 10 minutes of the half, at which point the Citizens stepped things up and saw Aguero's shot blocked in front of goal by Cesar Azpilicueta - coming after Leroy Sane caught Victor Moses sleeping at the back post - before finally grabbing the goal they felt they deserved on the brink of half time.

A simple enough delivery from Jesus Navas on the right, moments after De Bruyne's own cross was headed wide by Aguero, was awkwardly met by the right leg of Cahill and the ball span past Courtois into the far corner of the net.

Chelsea boss Antonio Conte knew that the game was far from over though, with City keeping just two clean sheets in their last 16 and failing to win here in the league since mid-September.

The Blues may well have been two down immediately after the restart when Sane turned on the pace and slotted the ball through for De Bruyne, who was thwarted by countryman Courtois down low.

Costa, himself on an impressive streak in front of goal, failed to find the target from his first sight of the target as he miscued a shot wide from 10 yards out.

The chances kept on coming, the latest falling to Aguero when Cahill was again caught out at the back when failing to clear the ball, but the Englishman saved further blushes by racing back to clear his opponent's subsequent shot off the line.

There was to be no chance for either side to breath, with De Bruyne somehow failing to convert from point-blank range when picked out by Navas, just two minutes before Costa brilliantly controlled a Cesc Fabregas pass, held off his man and blasted through Bravo to level things up.

Aguero was next to come close, again being slotted through when Chelsea's non-existent midfield was carved open, yet the ball got stuck under his feet and Courtois was able to make the stop.

Arguably the most frenetic 90 minutes of Premier League action this term continued its nonstop pace as the final 20 minutes approached, and it was Chelsea who found the killer third following a move that very much followed the theme of the match.

Ilkay Gundogan waltzed his way through the Blues' backline but failed to pick out a teammate, allowing Chelsea to counter through a superb Costa turn, with Willian doing the rest despite the angle being against him as he tucked past Bravo.

For all City's efforts in the closing 10 minutes, it was Hazard who scored the fourth and final goal of the match by keeping his cool to round off a counter-attacking move, leaving the Citizens four points adrift of Conte's men.

Further drama was to come with time officially up, though, as Aguero was shown a straight red for a knee-high challenge on Luiz, while Fernandinho was also given his marching orders for an incident in the melee that ensued.

Yesterday Manchester City-Chelsea ................ 1-3 Cahill 45’ og (M), Costa 60’ (C), Willian 70’ (C), Hazard 90’ (C) Crystal Palace-Southampton .......... 3-0 Benteke 33’, Tomkins 36’, Benteke 85’ Stoke City-Burnley .......................... 2-0 Walters 20’, Muniesa 35’ Sunderland-Leicester City ............... 2-1 Huth 64’ og (S), Defoe 77’ (S), Okazaki 80’ (L) Tottenham-Swansea City ................ 5-0 Kane 39’ pen, Son Heung-Min 45+1’, Kane 49’, Eriksen 70’, 90+2’ West Bromwich-Watford ................ 3-1 Evans 16’ (WB), Brunt 34’ (WB), Kabasele 59’ (WA), Philips 90+1’ (WB) West Ham United-Arsenal .............. 1-5 Oezil (A) 24, Sanchez (A) 72, 80, 86, Carroll (WH) 83, Oxlade-Chamberlain (A) 84 Today Bournemouth v Liverpool ...................... Everton v Manchester United ................ Tomorrow Middlesbrough-Hull ...............................

PW Chelsea 14 11 Arsenal 14 9 Liverpool 13 9 Man City 14 9 Tottenham 14 7 West Brom 14 5 Man United 13 5 Everton 13 5 Stoke City 14 5 Watford 14 5 Southampton 14 4 Bournemouth 13 4 Crystal Palace 14 4 Burnley 14 4 Leicester 14 3 M’brough 13 2 West Ham 14 3 Sunderland 14 3 Hull City 13 3 Swansea 14 2 Premiership D 1 4 3 3 6 5 5 4 4 3 5 3 2 2 4 6 3 2 2 3 L F A Pts 2 32 11 34 1 33 14 31 1 32 14 30 2 30 15 30 1 24 10 27 4 20 17 20 3 18 15 20 4 16 15 19 5 16 19 19 6 18 24 18 5 13 15 17 6 15 19 15 8 24 26 14 8 12 23 14 7 17 24 13 5 12 15 12 8 15 29 12 9 14 24 11 8 11 28 11 9 16 31 9

Yesterday Motherwell v Celtic .......................... 3-4 Hamilton A v Partick Thistle ............. 1-1 Kilmarnock v Dundee ........................ 2-0 Rangers v Aberdeen ......................... 2-1 Ross County v Hearts ........................ 2-2 St Johnstone v Inverness CT ............. 3-0 Celtic Rangers Hearts Aberdeen St Johnstone Kilmarnock Ross County Hamilton Motherwell Dundee FC Partick Inverness P 13 16 16 14 15 15 16 15 15 16 15 16 W 12 8 7 7 6 4 3 2 4 4 3 3 D 1 5 6 3 4 5 7 9 3 3 5 5 L F A Pts 0 39 11 37 3 21 17 29 3 31 19 27 4 23 14 24 5 22 19 22 6 14 24 17 6 17 28 16 4 17 21 15 8 20 27 15 9 14 22 15 7 17 22 14 8 21 32 14

Friday Nottingham F v Newcastle ............... 2-1 Yesterday Birmingham City v Barnsley .............. 0-3 Blackburn R v Huddersfield .............. 1-1 Bristol City v Ipswich T ...................... 2-0 Burton Albion v Rotherham .............. 2-1 Cardiff City v Brighton ...................... 0-0 Fulham v Reading ............................. 5-0 Norwich City v Brentford .................. 5-0 Sheffield W v Preston ....................... 2-1 Wigan v Derby Co ............................. 0-1 Leeds United v Aston Villa ................ 2-0

P W D L F A Pts Newcastle U 19 13 1 5 37 16 40 Brighton 19 11 6 2 28 11 39 Reading 19 10 4 5 25 24 34 Leeds 19 10 2 7 23 20 32 Birmingham 19 8 7 4 24 22 31 Sheffield Wed 19 9 4 6 22 21 31 Norwich 19 9 3 7 34 30 30 Huddersfield 19 9 3 7 21 24 30 Derby 19 8 5 6 17 13 29 Fulham 19 7 7 5 30 21 28 Bristol City 19 8 3 8 26 22 27 Barnsley 19 7 4 8 32 29 25 Nottingham 19 7 4 8 34 33 25 Preston 19 7 4 8 24 23 25 Aston Villa 19 5 10 4 21 20 25 Ipswich 19 6 6 7 17 19 24 QPR 19 6 5 8 20 28 23 Brentford 19 6 4 9 24 26 22 Burton 19 5 7 7 21 25 22 Wolves 19 5 6 8 21 24 21 Blackburn 19 5 5 9 21 28 20 Cardiff 19 5 4 10 18 30 19 Wigan 19 4 6 9 16 21 18 Rotherham 19 1 4 14 19 45 7

Standings Standings SCOTLAND Standings

League Two

Yesterday Stevenage v Doncaster Rovers ......... 3-4 Yeovil Town v Crawley Town ............ 5-0

FA Cup 2nd round Friday Macclesfield T. v Oxford U ................ 0-0 Yesterday Blackpool v Brackley Town ............... 1-0 Carlisle United v Rochdale ................ 0-2 Charlton Athletic v MK Dons ............ 0-0 Chesterfield v Wycombe .................. 0-5 Luton Town v Solihull Moors ............ 6-2 Plymouth v Newport County ............ 0-0 Shrewsbury T v Fleetwood T ............ 0-0 Sutton United v Cheltenham T ......... 2-1 Today Curzon Ashton v AFC Wimbledon .......... Bolton W. v Sheffield U .......................... Bristol Rovers v Barrow ......................... Cambridge U v Coventry C ..................... Eastleigh v FC Halifax Town Millwall v Braintree Town ...................... Notts County v Peterborough U ............ Stourbridge v Northampton T . .............. Woking v Accrington Stanley ................. Port Vale v Hartlepool U . ...................... Tomorrow Lincoln-Oldham ......................................

Friday Dundee United v Hibernian .............. 1-0 Yesterday Dunfermline v Ayr United ................. 1-1 Falkirk v St Mirren ............................ 3-1 Queen of South v Dumbarton .......... 1-2

League One Yesterday Albion Rovers v Livingston ................ 0-1 Peterhead v Airdrieonians ................ 2-4 Queen’s Park v Brechin City .............. 2-0

League Two Yesterday Arbroath v Edinburgh City ................ 0-1 Cowdenbeath v Clyde ....................... 1-0 Elgin City v Montrose ........................ 4-1

Scottish Cup 3rd round Yesterday Beith Juniors v G. Morton ................. 0-6 Formartine U v Annan Ath ................ 4-0 Stirling Albion v Wick Ac ................... 2-0 Stranraer v East Kilbride ................... 2-1