Steve Bates

The Premier League is a brutal place to cut your managerial teeth.

But for Lampard the return of Mourinho to London could be good news with the inevitable circus following the new Tottenham boss and his every move.

Even if that dims the spotlight on Lampard in the capital by a tiny margin it will be vital space for the Chelsea boss to continue laying the foundations of his own dynasty at Stamford Bridge.

For while Mourinho has a reputation as a two-season wonder with the third usually a car crash, Lampard has the look of a man who wants to be at Chelsea’s helm for years.

The last time Chelsea were at the Etihad, Maurizio Sarri’s team were 4-0 down in 25 minutes and hammered 6-0.

Only four of that side started this time but the change in Chelsea under Lampard goes way beyond that.

Chelsea are easy on the eye in a way Sarri’s hurly-burly style never was – and the way they kept going and pressing for a point right until the end was a huge plus for Lampard. City started brightly knowing they have little margin for error these days after Liverpool’s blistering start to the campaign was underlined by another late winner – this time at Palace.

De Bruyne was a whisker away from giving City the lead with a shot which flashed past the far post after a pass from Sergio Aguero. But Chelsea arrived in Manchester high on confidence and self- belief with six straight League wins.

The Blues went close to scoring through Willian and young defender Fikayo Tomori before taking the lead.

N’golo Kante ran on to a sumptuous pass from Kovacic before squeezing the ball past

Bernard Mendy and

Ederson to score as they converged on him.

City were level eight minutes later with De Bruyne’s shot deflecting past Arrizabalaga off Kurt Zouma, after Jorginho had unusually lost possession.

Riyad Mahrez grabbed the eventual winner with a clever low finish after 37 minutes – but victory never felt safe as Chelsea refused to lie down and VAR ruled out Raheem Sterling’s late goal for offside.