Man City star Gabriel Jesus celebrates
Manchester City this Saturday afternoon, September 25, 2021, produced an impressive display to end Chelsea's unbeaten start to the season with a deserved victory at Stamford Bridge.
In the meeting between two sides fully expected to fight it out for this season's Premier League title, the reigning champions dominated against a strangely passive and conservative Chelsea.
Jesus almost added a second when Thiago Silva cleared his effort off the line while Aymeric Laporte should have scored but somehow slid a shot wide from inside the six-yard box.
Mendy also produced two crucial saves from the excellent Jack Grealish.
It was the perfect start to a crucial week for City and manager Pep Guardiola as they prepare to visit Paris St-Germain in the Champions League this week then take on Liverpool at Anfield next Sunday.
Elsewhere at Old Trafford, Bruno Fernandes blazed a stoppage-time penalty over the crossbar as Aston Villa earned a shock 1-0 victory at a below-par Manchester United.
Kortney Hause's 88th-minute header put Villa on course for the surprise win at Old Trafford, but the same man's handball gifted United an opportunity to steal a point in stoppage-time, only for Fernandes to dramatically miss the target.
Villa had two great opportunities to break the deadlock in the first half with full back Matt Targett blazing over from two metres out, before Ollie Watkins was denied by a fine save from United goalkeeper David de Gea.
The home side, encouraged by a frustrated Old Trafford crowd, stepped it up late in the match, but down the other end, Hause climbed highest to stun the home fans.
Fernandes grabbed the ball and placed it on the spot ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and looked set to snatch his side an undeserved draw, but hammered his attempt into the stands, leaving United to taste their first league defeat of the season. (Based on reports by BBC and Reuters)
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