Manchester City showed signs of returning to their best with an important 3-1 victory against Chelsea on Saturday night.
Pep Guardiola's side came into the clash fresh from a humiliation at the hands of PSG in the Champions League on Wednesday, and things got off to the worst possible start at the Etihad.
Abdukodir Khusanov made a disastrous mistake just minutes into his debut, and Noni Madueke capitalized on the £33.5m defender's error to put Chelsea ahead.
City fought back and equalized through Josko Gvardiol, before Erling Haaland gave them the lead in the second half after a big mistake by Blues goalkeeper Robert Sanchez.
Phil Foden added gloss to the victory late on after some good work from Haaland as City climbed back to fourth in the table.
Mail Sport's JACK GAUGHAN and AADAM PATEL were at the Etihad and rated both groups of players below…
Manchester City came from behind to beat Chelsea 3-1 in the Premier League on Saturday
Noni Madueke gave Chelsea an early lead but Enzo Maresca's side were beaten in the end.
With this result, Pep Guardiola's team returned to the top four, while Chelsea fell to sixth place.
MANCHESTER CITY (4-3-2-1)
Ederson – 7.5
Very good performance by the goalkeeper. Calmness under pressure on the ball and characteristic assist from Erling Haaland.
Matheus Nunes – 6.5
Super run for Josko Gvardiol's tie and better with room to run. The defensive end still needs some work.
Abdukodir Khusanov – 4
He improved significantly after a horror in the first minutes of the debut (a great block, two strong challenges), but the damage was already done.
Manuel Akanji – 5.5
He doesn't look himself at the moment and it was another uncertain display. His languid style does not help perceptions.
Yes Gvardiol – 7.5
City's best attacking threat for much of the night and largely did a decent job of keeping Noni Madueke quiet, only doing so once late on.
Abdukodir Khusanov suffered a nightmare start to his Premier League career with Man City
Josko Gvardiol once again demonstrated all his offensive quality by scoring a goal
Bernardo Silva – 6
Pep Guardiola wants City to slow things down and that is Silva's main job. He stayed in and out a bit.
Mateo Kovacic – 5
Another below average display. Struggling to choose the right moments to make passes forward and slowly in the opposite direction.
Ilkay Gündogan – 7
Lovely clip of Gvardiol's goal to open the game and generally happier than it has seemed in recent weeks.
Omar Marmush – 7
Encouraging signs about a positive debut. He was let down offside on three occasions but posed a real threat.
Omar Marmoush gave positive signs in his debut and had a goal disallowed in the first half
Mateo Kovacic once again put in a below-average performance and was slow in defensive situations
Phil Foden – 7.5
It didn't feel like a true 90-minute performance until he teamed up with Haaland and scored the important third goal.
Erling Haaland – 8
He finished first for his goal (18th in the league now) and generally did well against two markers. Good job playing on Foden.
Substitutes
John Stones (by Khusanov, 54) – 7
Kevin De Bruyne (by Marmoush, 74) – 6
Manager
Pep Guardiola – 7
He played a flat three in midfield, which seemed to offer City a little more protection.
BY JACK GAUGHAN
Erling Haaland was impressive in attack and scored his 18th goal of the season.
CHELSEA (4-2-3-1):
Roberto Sánchez – 4
I was lucky to get away with a bad save in the first half, as Omar Marmoush was offside after the rebound. I can't really blame the Chelsea goalkeeper for Manchester City's equalizer, but he was in no man's land for Erling Haaland's goal. Chaotic decision to go out and give City the three points.
Reece James – 5
He battled well against debutant Marmoush but failed to do much in attack as City dominated possession. Taken off by Malo Gusto in the 73rd minute.
Trevoh Chalobah – 6
He was solid until Haaland beat him in the build-up to City's second. He played a beautiful pass to Palmer in the first half who should have put Chelsea two up.
Levi Colwill – 5.5
One of Chelsea's three changes after their victory against Wolves. Booked for wasting time in the 25th minute but otherwise made a decent change. Undone by Haaland's class later.
Marco Cucurella – 5.5
However, a typical display of action will be to kick yourself for the way City equalized as they failed to move the ball away from danger. I can't fault his work rate.
Robert Sánchez's decision to go out and score Manchester City's second goal was chaotic
Trevoh Chalobah was solid overall, but Erling Haaland beat him in the air to score the striker's goal.
Moises Caicedo – 5
He had a quiet afternoon and didn't take advantage of the ball as much as he would have liked. Booked just before the hour mark for repeated infringements, which summed up how off the pace he was.
Enzo Fernandez – 5.5
He returned to the side and didn't do much harm, but he didn't know how to take advantage of some dangerous attacking situations when he received the ball. It rarely lives up to its price.
Noni Duque – 6.5
Only eight touches in the first half, but in the right place at the right time to give Chelsea an early lead with a simple finish. He came close to getting another one just before the break.
Cole Palmer – 6
He didn't score on his return to the Etihad last season and should have scored here, but he decided to square up and made a mistake when Chelsea were ahead. He had much better games.
Cole Palmer was calm on his return to the Etihad and has definitely had much better games
Enzo Fernandez didn't do much wrong, but the Argentine star rarely lives up to his price.
Jadon Sancho – 5
Orderly with the ball, but he did nothing notable and Maresca took him out when Chelsea were looking for an equalizer. It has to stop disappearing.
Nicholas Jackson – 6
He did superbly to get the assist on Chelsea's first goal, putting pressure on Khusanov, but then squandered a glorious opportunity. He caused a nuisance but was a waste, before he was replaced on the hour mark.
Substitutes
Christopher Nkunku
He replaced Jackson in the 61st minute, but failed to make the desired impact and did not cause as many problems as Jackson.
Bad wants – 5
He replaced Reece James in the 73rd minute, but never really entered the game.
Pedro Neto shone from the bench when he replaced the anonymous Jadon Sancho
Enzo Maresca has only achieved one victory in Chelsea's last seven games and they were naive
Pedro Neto – 6
He replaced Jadon Sancho in the 73rd minute and looked dangerous. Arguably it should have started.
Manager
Enzo Maresca – 5
In the end, his team only had their own mistakes to blame. From the moment they took an early lead, they should have at least got something out of this game, but Man City exposed their naivety. Now just one win in their last seven Premier League games.
BY ADAM PATEL