Manchester City vs Chelsea live score, updates, highlights & lineups as Riyad Mahrez and Julian Alvarez fire Pep Guardiola's men into round four

Dom Farrell

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Manchester City vs Chelsea live score, updates, highlights & lineups as Riyad Mahrez and Julian Alvarez fire Pep Guardiola's men into round four image

ETIHAD STADIUM, MANCHESTER — Riyad Mahrez and Julian Alvarez fired Manchester City into the fourth round of the Carabao Cup as their second-half goals secured a 2-0 win over Chelsea.

A City side showing seven changes from the 2-1 weekend win over Fulham were on the front foot for long periods during the opening 45 minutes, but the best chances fell to Chelsea as Stefan Ortega denied Christan Pulisic and impressive teenage wing-back Lewis Hall at close quarters.

Pep Guardiola's men made good on their keeper's fine work when Mahrez drew a clumsy found from Trevoh Chalobah and dispatched a 53rd-minute effort via a nick off Armando Broja in the defensive wall.

And Mahrez was involved again when Argentina international Alvarez tapped home the rebound after Edouard Mendy saved the winger's goalbound effort five minutes later.

Man City vs. Chelsea final score

  1H 2H Final
MCI 0 2 —
CHE 0 0 —

Goals:

MCI — Riyad Mahrez — 53rd minute.

MCI — Julian Alvarez — 58th minute.

MORE: Man City vs Chelsea live stream, TV channel, lineups, highlights, betting odds and score prediction

As Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden rested up among the substitutes, Jack Grealish relished the role of being City's main creative threat. Alongside the imperious Ilkay Gundogan, he was involved in most of their best work and flashed a 20-yard strike just past Mendy's near post in the 10th minute.

Teenage full-back Rico Lewis enjoyed another City start after his scoring turn against Sevilla in the Champions League last week and his close attention contributed to Pulisic scuffing Ziyech's cross too close to Ortega.

Alvarez was forced to wait for his third goal in as many starts when he spun onto Gundogan's pass and Mendy's faint touch ensured the finish went the right side of the post from the Chelsea goalkeeper's point of view.

It was a night where both keepers excelled, with Ortega tipping a more truly struck Pulisic effort behind and facing down Hall before halftime, while Mendy twice prevented Grealish from the goal his endeavours deserved early in the second period.

Centre-back Chalobah thanked him by fouling Mahrez and the deflection through a disjointed wall left him with no chance. It was a similar situation for the Senegal international when he saved from Mahrez five minutes later: Alvarez had played a wonderful crossfield ball to change the angle of the attack and continued his run to tap home the rebound for a seventh goal of the season.

Ortega saved his best moment for after the hour when he implausibly denied Hall on the end of Ziyech's cross, lapping up a chorus of his name from the City faithful as his reward.

Will Kalvin Phillips be fit for the World Cup?

England boss Gareth Southgate will have been cheered by the sight of Kalvin Phillips emerging ready for action early in the second half at the Etihad Stadium. The scoreline was 0-0 when the former Leeds United hero entered the fray and, although fellow substitute Bernardo Silva made a more visible impression by instantly lifting City's tempo, Phillips turned in a neat and tidy performance, completing 36 of his 38 passes.

England have missed his metronomic presence at the base of the midfield over the past year or so and we'll learn tomorrow whether Southgate thinks he is a risk worth taking with the insurance of an expanded 26-man squad at the World Cup.

Are Chelsea improving under Graham Potter?

It's now five domestic games without a win for Chelsea under Potter, but the manager was keen to take the positives from their performance after he switched to a 3-4-3 setup, highlighting Ortega's heroics.

"I thought there were quite a few positives. We're disappointed with the result but in terms of how we played, we created some good chances," he said. "It was a better structure and a better performance level. The team looked closer to what we want it to look like. The boys had great courage, they tried against a top team. Their keeper got the man of the match, I think, which tells a bit of the story. Overall, a step forward for us."

Pep Guardiola tells Jack Grealish what he wants

Guardiola hailed Grealish as "exceptional" after the match but claimed the likes of De Bruyne and Foden not being involved should not have any bearing on how he plays. Grealish's relatively low number of goals and assists since joining City have been attributed in part to him doing a conservative team-focused job under Guardiola's instructions. However, the City boss suggested he has different demands of the England playmaker.

"I want Jack to take responsibility when he plays with Kevin and Phil [as well]," he said. "Today the best step Jack has done is all the time when he gets the ball or moves inside he attacks the back line and the back four of Chelsea. Always his intention is [to] pass the ball and we spoke many times with him, 'No, no — the first intention is to score a goal'. 

"It's always to go there and he is not a real threat for the back four because his body language is 'I'm going to pass the ball' and today the body language is, 'I'm going to score a goal' and after shoot or pass. Today it was three or four times he did it. This is what we wanted. He didn't score but he had the chances and one day he will do it. He was exceptional again. Jack is playing really, really good."

Man City vs. Chelsea from the Carabao Cup as it happened

Fulltime: Job done for Guardiola as he chases a fifth Carabao Cup in six seasons. This win means City will play their next game two or three days after the World Cup final. Thanks for joining us!

90th minute+1: Ortega is deservedly announced as man-of-the-match inside the ground and that gets a roar of approval from the City faithful. Honourable mention for Grealish, too, I think.

90th minute: GOAAAAA..no! All sorts of pinball kicks off inside the City box. Ortega can't catch the cross, Gomez heads against his own post and eventually Pulisic scored via a deflection but is offside.

89th minute: Grealish and Azpilicueta have got themselves involved in a bit of nonsense after a foul from the latter. Both are booked.

88th minute: Oooh, Ortega is rooted this time as Mount spins to unleash a shot from the edge of the box. It skips just wide of the right-hand post.

85th minute: Potter is understandably miffed on the sideline. Azpilicueta's cross finds Pulisic at the back post but the Chelsea attacker makes a hash of his volley.

81st minute: Nathan Ake replaces Aymeric Laporte as City aim to see this out. Dias took the opportunity to dish out a few instructions to Silva and Phillips.

78th minute: Havertz has the chance to cross to Sterling or shoot. He does neither, scuffing between the two options and that's a goalkick.

76th minute: Havertz comes on for Hall to join Chelsea's final push. The teenager did his cause no harm at all tonight with a fine display. 

73rd minute: Change for Pulisic, who is offside. But Ortega doesn't know that and duly carries on his Lev Yashin impression. It's another brilliant save.

67th minute: Grealish almost has the goal his endeavours deserve. He embarks upon a sparkling run through the Chelsea defence but a sliding posse of blue shirts greet his eventual effort.

66th minute: Chelsea cavalry alert! Mount, Sterling and Gallagher are all ready to come on.

63rd minute: Sensational save from Ortega!!! Ziyech spins around Gomez with some elan and cuts it back for Hall. The youngster catches this one much more cleanly than his earlier effort and looks certain to score, only for City's backup keeper to fling himself across the goal and tip behind.

60th minute: This could run away from Chelsea. Palmer gets into the box and Mendy saves at his near post.

58th minute: GOOOOAAALLLL!!!!! Alvarez!!!

City go bang, bang! Gomez takes a quick free kick in his own half and Grealish finds Alvarez. The Argentina forward switches play to Mahrez, whose shot is saved by Mendy. But Alvarez has continued his run from the left and is rewarded with a tap-in.

55th minute: Chalobah gets forward, looking to make amends. Ziyech tries to beat Ortega from out on the flank and almost does. Form the resulting corner the Morocco star blasts over

53rd minute: GOOOOALLLLL!!!!! Mahrez!!!

Nothing Mendy can do there. Mahrez look to curl it over the wall and Broja inadvertently nods it downwards and in.

52nd minute: AND AGAIN! The corner scoots into the box, Grealish directs it towards the bottom corner and Mendy pulls out his best save of the lot. Ooh, Chelsea rocking a bit as Chalobah is booked for fouling Mahrez right on the edge of the box.

51st minute: Mendy vs Grealish continues. The City man cuts inside Chalobah and the Senegal man is fully extended to push behind.

50th minute: Gundogan and Rodri make way. This will be a bit of load management from Guardiola because Gundogan has been majestic.

49th minute: A rare lapse form Kovacic who is mugged by the ever-alert Alvarez. He played Mahrez into the box, where Cucurella's challenge isn't the tidiest, but nor is it a foul says referee Simon Hooper. Silva and Phillips are stripped and ready for action.

46th minute: We're back underway. A reminder that this game will go straight to penalties if it's level at fulltime. When will Guardiola and Potter turn towards the ample cavalry on the bench.

Halftime: Loftus-Cheek slides in to foul Grealish. City have a dangerous free-kick on the left. As they have from seven corners, Chelsea take care of business and the whistle goes. That was fun, see you back here in 10 minutes or so.

45th minute: Chelsea ending the half strongly. Kovacic saunters through an expanse of space in the City midfield. Grealish gets back to interrupt before the ball can find Pulisic.

44th minute: Almost a wonderful moment for Hall, who chops inside Lewis coolly and looks like he must score. But it's Ortega's turn to save well as he makes himself but to deny the youngster.

41st minute: Koulibaly's yellow card means he has to stand off Grealish a little bit and the City attacker fires a shot across goal that Mendy saves brilliantly. Then he pouches Mahrez's cross from after the subsequent set piece.

38th minute: Broja jinks into the City box. He's eventually dispossessed by an amusing combination on Laporte's left boot, Rodri's right boot and Dias' back.

35th minute: Hello! Hall sends a ball in behind the City defence with an awful lot of swazz on it. Laporte does well to get there before Ziyech.

31st minute: The hosts are getting closer. Grealish finds Rodri, who resists the urge to shoot and slots a pass down the right to Lewis. The full-back's low cross passes through a giant Erling Haaland shaped hole about four yards out. Sterling gets a nice ripple of applause on his first warm-up of the night.

29th minute: Almost 1-0 to City. Gundogan, who has been delightful so far, slots a pass to a spinning Alvarez. His shot skimmed wide, with Koulibaly getting a vital touch.

25th minute: Alvarez finds Grealish, who is very much enjoying having the shiny new toy of an overlapping, attacking left-footed full-back outside him. Gomez pings in another low cross and Palmer is unable to make a clean enough contact under pressure.

 

23rd minute: Pulisic goes it alone, galloping in from the left and has Ortega at full stretch to tip his shot behind. The winger lost his footing when striking that, meaning a painful collision from Aymeric Laporte's point of view. With an eye on the World Cup, the Spain centre-back seems to be fine.

21st minute: Zakaria gets himself in the way of a Gundogan shot and Mendy mops up. Chelsea surge up the other end and Ziyech's speculative shot is deflected behind. City see the corner off.

19th minute: Nice effort from Gundogan, that nicks the wall and the roof of the netting. That'll be another corner that City don't do anything in particular from.

17th minute: Grealish again, who links with Mahrez and Palmer before getting unceremoniously clattered by Koulibaly on the edge of the box. The Chelsea centre-back very much earned his booking!

16th minute: This is pleasingly end-to-end. Grealish and Gundogan get City moving from inside their own half and the latter sends Alvarez away. The attack ends with Mendy saving a deflected Palmer shot.

13th minute: Ohhh! Almost 1-0 to Chelsea. Loftus-Cheek feeds Ziyech down the right. His low cross finds Pulisic. The USMNT star should bury it but scuffs his shot. The mis-hit almost does for Ortega anyway but the City goalkeeper is able to scramble behind.

12th minute: First proper involvement from Hall, who steps inside Lewis and surges into the City half. Alvarez is persuaded to make the foul.

10th minute: Grealish is all over this game early on. Chelsea partly clear City's latest corner and the England international thumps a sweetly struck shot just past Mendy's near post. Guardiola is out in his technical area offering enthusiastic applause.

9th minute: A deft flick from Alvarez sends Grealish scampering away on the break. He catches up for the return pass and ther shot is blocked behind.

8th minute: Broja picks Gundogan's pocked inside the City half, barrels past Laporte's attempted challenge and then thwacks a shot over from 25 yards. Typically muscular stuff all-round from the Chelsea forward!

7th minute: If you had Chelsea and singing "Champions of Europe, you'll never sing that!" on your bingo card, check that one off already.

6th minute: Nice interplay with Palmer, Mahrez and Grealish all involved. The latter works the ball left to Gomez and Koulibaly does well to clear the full-back's low cross behind and not into his own net. Chelsea deal with the corner.

4th minute: Grealish gets room to stretch his legs through midfield and gets into the box. His shot is blocked, Gomez's volleyed cross goes over every one but City win a corner. Good start from the hosts.

2nd minute: If you had a rabidly pressing Alvarez closing down a dozy Mendy clearance on your bingo card, check that one off already. The Chelsea goalkeeper gets away with a goal kick but expect the Argentina forward to test him any time he gets the opportunity in that fashion. 

1st minute: We're off, City straight into their work attacking the South Stand. Grealish thought he's won a corner but he was offside.

5 mins from kickoff: All sorts going off in the way of pre-match hoo-har here. We've had a load of dry ice and smoke, a lights show and now a tenor giving us an operatic take on Blue Moon as a giant blue moon floats above the centre circle. Never let it be said that Manchester City don't take their Carabao seriously.

20 mins from kickoff: It'll be interesting to see how this game pans out with two experimental starting XIs. Potter might look for Chelsea's wide attackers and wing-backs to target City's young full-backs, especially given that providing defensive cover doesn't tend to feature too high up on the list of things to recommend about Mahrez or Grealish. 

40 mins from kickoff: Jack Grealish is one of four players retained from the weekend starting line-up by Pep Guardiola. The video below featuring the England international, well, it's just really, really lovely.

55 mins from kickoff: It's a similarly interesting Chelsea XI. Looks like Potter has gone with a back three, while 18-year-old Lewis Hall gets a second senior start. Sterling has to be content with a place on the bench.

1 hour from kickoff: The teams are in. Teenage full-back Rico Lewis starts for City, having scored his maiden senior goal in last week's 3-1 Champions League win over Sevilla. Erling Haaland, Phil Foden, Silva and De Bruyne are all on the bench alongside Kalvin Phillips, who will be hoping for his first outing since shoulder surgery.

1 hr 20 mins from kickoff: Pep Guardiola's plans for this evening might have been thrown into flux by what unfolded at the Etihad Stadium at the weekend. City beat an in-form Fulham 2-1 despite Joao Cancelo being sent off inside Tthe first half-hour. The likes of Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne produced truly tireless shifts and might put their feet up before Saturday's final Premier League game before the World Cup against Brentford. We'll find out in about 20 minutes.

"The game here against Fulham on Saturday was special for me," Guardiola said in his programme notes for this evening's game. "To be able to celebrate a game like that with you was special. I saw so many happy faces in the crowd and it's moments like this that make me realise why I do this job and why being the Manchester City manager is a privilege."

1 hr 40 mins from kickoff: If you're able to concentrate on this game despite World Cup squads dropping every five minutes then you might be in for a treat. City have been in formidable form at home this season and the game could be coming at an inconvenient time for Chelsea and their boss Graham Potter. It's four games domestically without a win domestically for the Stamford Bridge outfit. On the other hand, maybe form won't count for too much, with both managers expected to shuffle their decks a little. And, as the 2021 Champions League final showed, Chelsea quite like a cup tie against City... 

2 hours from kickoff: Hello and welcome to The Sporting News' live coverage of the Carabao Cup third-round clash between Manchester City and Chelsea.

Man City vs Chelsea lineups

Joao Cancelo is suspended after his red card against Fulham, meaning starts for rookie fullbacks Rico Lewis and Sergio Gomez, while Cole Palmer gets the chance to impress in midfield

Erling Haaland came off the bench to net a stoppage-time winner from the penalty spot — his 23rd goal of the season —and the Norway striker remains among the substitutes as he continues to nurse the effects of a foot injury. England midfielder Kalvin Phillips is in line for some valuable pre-World Cup minutes from the bench after returning to training from shoulder surgery.

Manchester City lineup (4-3-3): Ortega (GK) — Lewis, Dias, Laporte, Gomez — Rodri, Palmer, Gundogan — Mahrez, Alvarez, Grealish.

Graham Potter brings in Armando Broja to lead the line, flanked by Christian Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech. Raheem Sterling has to be content with a place on the bench against his former club, while there is a start for 18 year-old Lewis Hall.

Chelsea lineup (3-4-3): Mendy (GK) — Chalobah, Koulibaly, Cucurella — Loftus-Cheek, Kovacic, Zakaria, Hall — Pulisic, Broja, Ziyech.

MORE: Chelsea vs Arsenal result, highlights and analysis as Gabriel's winner sends Gunners back to Premier League summit

What time is Man City vs Chelsea?

Manchester City play host to Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England. It kicks off at 8 p.m. GMT on Wednesday, November 9.

  UK USA Canada Australia
Date Weds,
November 9		 Weds,
November 9		 Weds,
November 9		 Thurs,
November 10
Time 20:00 GMT 15:00 ET 15:00 ET 07:00 AEDT

How to watch Man City vs Chelsea 

  UK USA Canada Australia
TV channel Sky Sports Football/Sky Sports Main Event — — beIN SPORTS 2
Stream Sky GO, NOW TV ESPN+ fuboTV, DAZN beIN SPORTS Connect, Kayo Sports

UK: The match will be broadcast on Sky Sports and is available to stream via Sky GO or NOW TV.

USA: Fans can stream the match via ESPN+.

Canada: The match is available to watch through fuboTV and DAZN.

Australia: BeIN SPORTS 2 will broadcast the match, which is also available to stream through beIN SPORTS Connect and Kayo Sports.

When is the Carabao Cup fourth-round draw?

The draw for the last 16 will take place on Thursday, November 10 after Manchester United's tie with Aston Villa.

Dom Farrell

Dom Farrell Photo

Dom is the senior content producer for Sporting News UK. He previously worked as fan brands editor for Manchester City at Reach Plc. Prior to that, he built more than a decade of experience in the sports journalism industry, primarily for the Stats Perform and Press Association news agencies. Dom has covered major football events on location, including the entirety of Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup in Paris and St Petersburg respectively, along with numerous high-profile Premier League, Champions League and England international matches. Cricket and boxing are his other major sporting passions and he has covered the likes of Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Wladimir Klitschko, Gennadiy Golovkin and Vasyl Lomachenko live from ringside.