Man City subs' bench kills myth of the Blues' squad depth

Kids galore

At first, it looked like Pep Guardiola had given up the ghost, and crammed his bench with kids.

But at second glance, it became evident that he had put out as strong a squad as possible on the night.

And that showed why the fallacy that the Blues have an impossibly deep squad – which was touted as being in their favour in the hectic rush of the re-started league – was shallow.

Cole Palmer, Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Tommy Doyle were there to fill up the 20-man squad, of course, and the starting XI was strong enough to win any game, even if it lacked real balance without the injured Sergio Aguero and a 90 per cent fit Gabriel Jesus also on the bench.

But with Phil Foden, Joao Cancelo, John Stones and Claudio Bravo not available, City were at full stretch to put out 20 players.

Ederson awakening

Ederson had been having a gentle re-introduction to football after the lockdown, having no saves to make against Arsenal and Burnley.

He had been left to do what he does best, join in the outfield football and ping 70-yard passes to forward players.

The memory of his Old Trafford meltdown in the last game before the season hit the buffers was fading.

But with Chelsea causing problems, he had another wobble by passing one straight to Mason Mount, who wasted a great chance. The Brazil keeper has work to do.

Ederson saves from Mason Mount (Andy Hooper NMC Pool)

False nine flops

Pep Guardiola revisited his false nine idea, with Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne flitting into and out of the front role in a bid to distort Chelsea’s shape.

It had worked so well against United in the Carabao Cup semi-final at Old Trafford, but Frank Lampard was ready for it, and his defence maintained its discipline and refused to chase shadows.

It was only when David Silva and Gabriel Jesus gave the Blues a more traditional structure that City looked like winning the game – and created enough chances to do so.

Cole's grin

Cole Palmer, just 18, knew he was only making up the numbers – and that if other youngsters had been available, he might not have made the bench at Stamford Bridge.

Some of the Blues’ older academy players have not been involved in training as they returned to their native lands to sit out lockdown.

But the grin which was fixed on Palmer’s face as he mixed with the first team was a sight to behold.