Delph in dedication to injured team-mate Benjamin
FABIAN Delph dedicated the victory against Chelsea to injured City team-mate Benjamin Mendy.
The England international starred once again as Pep Guardiola’s side returned to the top of the Premier League table with a 1-0 victory at Stamford Bridge.
Kevin de Bruyne’s moment of brilliance won the game for the Blues, but Delph dedicated the victory to the man he replaced at left-back, Mendy, who is a longterm absentee after suffering a cruciate ligament injury in last month’s clash with Crystal Palace.
He told BT Sport: “That performance there was for one of our team-mates – Benjamin (Mendy). He left us a message before the game and we knew before the game we had to do it for him. He’s a big loss for us but that win’s for him. So if you’re watching, that’s for you big man!”
The makeshift left-back earned a lot of plaudits with another solid performance – but he played down his involvement, citing that team cohesion shone for City as they demonstrated their title credentials.
Added Delph: “Yeah it’s huge, it’s massive. We knew coming into the game it was our toughest game yet of the season.
“We stuck to the game plan. The plan was to stop them on the counter. I lost Willian a couple of times but I felt like we did the job down to a tee and we’re happy – we’ve come away with the three points so happy days.
“It sends out a massive message. We knew coming into this game that we had lost the previous two games to them (Chelsea) – so we needed to come out on top today. It’s sent out a big message – there’s a massive togetherness in the team and you could see that on the pitch today.” Guardiola was quick to praise Delph and reckons Gareth Southgate can benefit from including the midfielder in his squad. The City boss said: “He’s a midfield player, when he receives the ball he doesn’t lose one ball. “I’m so happy for him. I’m so happy to go to the national team for England, because I think England can use him a lot, maybe more than I used him last season.” Meanwhile, goalkeeper Ederson refused to take the accolades for his marathon cleansheet stint – the last goal he conceded was Charlie Daniels’ screamer at Bournemouth on August 26. “It just shows how hard we work as a team, in midfield and defence – they help to keep the clean sheets. It just shows we are on the right path,” he said. Fabian Delph