Manchester City won 1-0 at Chelsea to cut the gap to five points with leaders Arsenal. Joao Cancelo was a regular starter for the English champions and departed before the restart for the entry of youngster Rico Luis. Pep Guardiola addressed the situation in a press conference. “We didn’t play well in the first half. I thanked João Cancelo for his efforts, after I had to play in a position that wasn’t like Rodri’s. We decided to go with an eleven where the players can adapt on the pitch if we decide to use a line of five defenders. In the second half we were Better by a large margin in all aspects. It was a great result for us,” said the technician after the end of the match, revealing, “I wanted Mahrez to start from the beginning.” He added, “I apologize to Joao because he felt the difficulties for not playing in his position. I thought there would be room there…”.

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It should be noted that the only goal in the match was scored precisely by the Algerian international.