Pep Guardiola realises importance of full-back and exposes Chelsea vulnerability | Jonathan Wilson

Once a position for the energetic and combative, Manchester City showed it has become one for those who can exploit the space in front of them to shape a game

This is what the Premier League has been waiting for since Pep Guardiola arrived at Manchester City. There had been hints of it before, most notably in the first half of the derby at Old Trafford last season, but City’s performance at Stamford Bridge on Saturday was the first time a Guardiola side in England has so thoroughly dominated another member of the elite from start to finish. All the familiar tropes were there – the domination of possession, the rapid transitions, the tenacity at winning the ball back; all that was missing was the scoreline. This was 1-0 going on 3 or 4-0.

Antonio Conte perhaps saw what was coming. Gone was the familiar 3-4-2-1 and it its place the 3-5-1-1 that had been so effective in beating Atlético Madrid away the previous Wednesday. It was a system designed to sit deep, to absorb pressure and to use the passing of Cesc Fàbregas, protected by Tiémoué Bakayoko to his left and N’Golo Kanté to his right, to strike on the break. That was why, when Álvaro Morata was injured after 35 minutes, it was to Willian rather than Michy Batshuayi that Conte turned: what he needed in forward areas, he reasoned, was pace and discipline. Chelsea had undone City on the counter in both league meetings last season; here, though, the magenta waves just kept coming.

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