Manchester City beat Chelsea to move 13 points clear at top of Premier League after De Bruyne goal

In the away section behind one of the goals at The Etihad, silverware glinted now and again in the winter sunshine. The Chelsea fans, ranged across three tiers, resolutely held up replicas of the Champions League trophy many had brought with them from London and brandished them as a reminder of their victory over Manchester City in the final in Porto last May.

‘Where’s your European Cup?’ they sang over and over again and they took their consolation there. Because history is all they have got at the moment. After this defeat to Pep Guardiola’s side, it is clearer than it ever was that the present belongs to City.

There was a time not long ago when this season was being imagined as a three-horse race between City, Chelsea and Liverpool that would go right down to the wire but those predictions withered and died as the nights drew in and City’s class began to tell. Now, the English marathon has a runaway leader.

Kevin De Bruyne curled home the decisive goal with 20 minutes to go as Manchester City moved 13 points clear at the summit

De Bruyne drove at the heart of the Chelsea defence, then dug out a curling effort from 25 yards to settle the contest

It proved sufficient to carry Manchester City 13 points clear of Chelsea at the top though Liverpool have games in hand

City manager Pep Guardiola gives the thumbs up during a performance of class and control at the Etihad Stadium 

Their 1-0 victory took them 13 points clear of Chelsea and the rest of the increasingly forlorn chasing pack and within sight of retaining their title. This had felt like the last chance to halt City’s march towards winning the league and Chelsea, who frustrated their manager, Thomas Tuchel, by creating opportunities but failing to take them, could not lay a glove on them.

Kevin de Bruyne scored the winner 20 minutes from the end and it was a fine goal fit to grace a fine performance. City were the better side by a distance. If Jose Mourinho had still been in charge of Chelsea, he would have been accused of parking the bus with this performance but against a team as good as City, it is hard to find a bus big enough.

This was City’s 12th league victory in succession, a run that has defied the ravages of Covid and the pressures of the holiday period. City just march on and on and on. The forbidding reality for their rivals is that they seem to be getting better and better and better. Tuchel might have masterminded three victories over City last season but in this encounter, the gap in quality between the two sides was impossible to disguise.

‘The quality, the deliveries and the composure was absolutely not on top level today,’ Tuchel said later. ‘You need top level to get half chances and chances, and that's what we lacked in the first half. Our offensive players need to show up more. We need consistency. Chelsea is not a place to hide.’

Instead of looking upwards, Chelsea may now have to start looking nervously over their shoulders as Arsenal, Spurs, West Ham and Manchester United try to rein them in. They had one clear chance against City’s parsimonious defence but Romelu Lukaku could not take it. They progressed to the final of the Carabao Cup last week and it appears the knock-out competitions are, once more, their best chance of success this season.

City goalkeeper Ederson denied Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku early in the second-half but the visitors were second best

City could have led late in the first-half but Jack Grealish was denied by a sprawling save by Kepa Arrizabalaga 

City boss Pep Guardiola made a host of changes from the team that had beaten Swindon Town in the FA Cup third round and included Jack Grealish on the left of City’s fluid front three. Grealish has had an uneven time since his £100m arrival from Aston Villa in the summer and his recall in a match of this magnitude was a chance to make a belated statement.

Instead, most of City’s attacks went down the right where Raheem Sterling gave Marcos Alonso a torrid time, particularly after Alonso had been booked early on for fouling him. On the other flank, Grealish toiled in vain to make an impact, his halting efforts stymied by the formidable combination of Antonio Rudiger and Cesar Azpilicueta. Too often, he ran up blind alleys.

Chelsea found it hard to get a foothold in the game. They could not get the ball and on the rare occasions that they did, they could not keep it. Tuchel appeared to be particularly exasperated with the contribution of Lukaku whose interventions in the action were sporadic.

Lukaku has been rehabilitated by Tuchel after his controversial interview with Sky Italia but the relationship between manager and centre forward still appears uneasy. Time and again, Tuchel leapt from the dug-out to remonstrate with Lukaku, spreading his arms out wide, looking for an explanation why he had misplaced a pass or given away possession. Lukaku did his best to ignore him.

Lukaku was responsible for one of the only half-chances of the opening 45 minutes, though. He took the ball midway inside the City half with his back to goal and bullied his way past the wrestling of John Stones. But as he advanced on goal, there was another clue that Lukaku is still lacking confidence. Instead of shooting, he tried to play in Hakim Ziyech with a reverse pass. The pass was mishit and Ziyech was offside anyway. A rare opportunity had been wasted.

It had been an opening period of few clear-cut chances but Grealish should have done better as he closed in on goal

There was an early moment of panic for Chelsea when Kepa blasted his clearance against Cesar Azpilicueta 

Romelu Lukaku charges away from John Stones but the Belgian opted to pass to Hakim Ziyech instead of going for goal

‘Sometimes he has to do the service,’ Tuchel said of Lukaku after the match when he was asked if he was getting enough service. ‘He had many ball losses and a huge chance. Of course we want to serve him but he's part of the team. The performance up front in the first half, we can do much, much better.’

When Ziyech returned the favour a few minutes later by overhitting a through ball that would have freed Lukaku, Tuchel exploded out of his dugout again, inconsolable about the waste. It was hard to blame him. City were so dominant in every area that it was hard not to wonder when a Chelsea chance would come again.

For all their superiority, City were finding it hard to create clear chances, too, but Chelsea started to look exhausted by the chase and demoralised by City’s dominance. Finally, five minutes before half time, it looked as if City were going to break through when Kevin de Bruyne dispossessed Mateo Kovacic on the edge of the Chelsea area. The ball ran on to Grealish but when he tried to slip his shot round Kepa Arrizabalaga, the Chelsea keeper deflected it wide with his left leg.

There were more chances after the interval. De Bruyne slid a ball across the Chelsea box and Sterling seemed to have got ahead of his marker in the race to meet it when he went down. The referee waved away claims for a penalty. A minute later, Chelsea broke and Kovacic played Lukaku in on goal.

Manchester City's Raheem Sterling tries to break away from the Chelsea defence during his team's win at the Etihad

De Bruyne receives a warm embrace from his manager Pep Guardiola as he is substituted late in the match

Lukaku has yet to score against a top six club this season and this was his chance to put that right and silence jibes that he is a flat-track bully. He tried to curl a left foot shot round Ederson but the City goalkeeper pushed it out with his right hand and Ziyech blasted the rebound high over the bar.

It did not take long for Chelsea to rue that miss. Twenty minutes from time, De Bruyne slipped away from N’Golo Kante midway inside the Chelsea half and ran at the retreating defence. When he got to the edge of the area, he used Thiago Silva as a shield and curled his shot around him. Arrizabalaga took half a step in the wrong direction and by the time he corrected himself, it was too late. The ball flew beyond his despairing dive and into the bottom corner.

Chelsea never looked like forcing their way back into the game. As they attacked in vain, their fans still brandished those inflatable trophies behind the goal and took their pride in the memories of the past. In the present, there is no comfort for any team but City.

‘We won't give up,’ Tuchel said afterwards in what seemed close to a concession speech, ‘but if City keep on winning every game, nobody can catch them.’

RE-LIVE HOW ALL THE ACTION UNFOLDED BELOW WITH ADAM SHERGOLD