Five Things We Learned: Manchester City 2-0 Chelsea (Carabao Cup Third Round)

Manchester City knocked out rivals Chelsea in the third round of the Carabao Cup, beating the West-London side 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night.

Second-half goals from Riyad Mahrez and Julian Alvarez were enough to see Pep Guardiola’s side progress through to the fourth round.

Summer signing Stefan Ortega more than earned his clean sheet following a selection of spectacular saves, denying the likes of Christian Pulisic and Chelsea debutant, Lewis Hall.

Here’s what we learned from Manchester City’s victory in their penultimate game before the international break!

Ederson has competition on his hands

A 2-0 scoreline, on paper, could perceive the game as a comfortable win for Manchester City, but this certainly was not that.

Chelsea created multiple good goalscoring opportunities, mostly on the counter-attack, but were all were denied by City's back-up goalkeeper Stefan Ortega.

The German keeper has been excellent since coming into the City team, with the Blues only conceding one goal with him between the sticks.

Ever since Ederson’s arrival in the summer of 2017, there’s always been a sense that Manchester City’s back-up stopper has never really been able to challenge the Brazilian for the number one spot.

This time feels different.

Yes, Ortega may not be on Ederson's level in terms of distribution, however the German is still competent with his feet and dare I say it, looks the better shot-stopper too.

Definitely a situation to keep an eye on

Julian Alvarez is the real deal

When asked about Julian Alvarez in a recent press conference, Pep Guardiola stated that the Argentine would be given ‘another chance’, and how he has taken it.

With the news of Erling Haaland’s injury before the visit to Leicester, some Manchester City supporters were questioning where goals were going to come from.

Alvarez failed to score against the Foxes, but has provided in the three games since, bagging goals against Sevilla, Fulham and Chelsea.

The 22-year-old has a real sense and instinct for where to be and when, proving such by another goal on Wednesday night - tapping home a rebound after he reacted quickest to an Edouard Mendy save.

Rico Lewis - the perfect Kyle Walker understudy

After a fantasy debut last week against Sevilla, Rico Lewis followed up with another mature display against even better opposition.

At only 17 years-old, the Englishman is easily the youngest player in Manchester City’s team, but you would not know it judging on his two appearances for the senior side so far.

City’s lack of ‘natural’ full-backs is possibly the thinnest area in the squad with Kyle Walker, Joao Cancelo and Sergio Gomez (more on him later) the only recognisable ones at the start of the season.

With Cancelo now mainly playing left-back, the door for a back-up to Kyle Walker has been left open.

John Stones and Manuel Akanji have filled in there at times this season, but with a dream-worthy start to his senior Manchester City career, Rico Lewis will be hoping he can push for the second choice right-back slot and, one day, maybe even the first.

Is Sergio Gomez the answer to City’s lack of left-back depth?

From one full-back to another, Sergio Gomez’s defensive abilities need to be discussed.

Don’t get me wrong, the Spaniard is excellent going forward and provides a mean cross, but is defensively suspect to say the least.

There were multiple occasions, not only against Chelsea, where Manchester City’s opposition have had joy down Gomez’s flank.

Most noticeably with Hakim Ziyech’s Dimitar Berbatov-like turn, the 22-year-old seems easy to beat one-on-one, with the timing of his tackling looking particularly weak.

Joao Cancelo would normally occupy the left of Manchester City’s defence, but this is still a problem Pep Guardiola and his coaching staff need to address if the club want to push for as many trophies as possible.

However, as mentioned previously, Sergio Gomez is excellent going forward and previously played further up the pitch during his time at Anderlecht, so perhaps a move into midfield could be where we see him excel.

The return of Kalvin Phillips

Well, I say the return but more like the introduction, as prior to yesterday evening Kalvin Phillips had only played 16 minutes for Manchester City since his £45 million move from Leeds United in the summer.

Nevertheless, when the England international came on, he gave a fruitful cameo, showcasing what is perhaps to come.

The 26-year-old was great after being brought on after 50 minutes, completing 95% of his passes, winning 100% of his duels, providing two recoveries, and offering six passes into the final third.

The Englishman’s performance meant much more, however.

He proved himself as a reliable rotation option for when the likes of Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva are either injured, rested or just not played - something Manchester City have arguably lacked since the departure of Fernandinho at the end of last season.