Tactical Analysis | An Antonio Conte masterclass takes Chelsea 4 points clear at the top of the table

Man City XI (3-4-3) : Bravo (GK), Stones, Otamendi, Kolarov; Fernandinho, Gundogan; Navas, Silva, De Bruyne, Sane; Aguero.

Chelsea stuck to the same formation that has brought them so much success over the last couple of months. Antonio Conte was forced into making a change to his successful midfield line-up due to an injury to Nemanja Matic and Cesc Fabregas was given the nod to partner Kante in midfield.

While no one can dispute the fact that Victor Moses is an excellent attacking wing back, he is certainly lax when it comes to tracking back. Whether he is just lazy or he doesn't sense the danger, Moses was not able to perform his defensive duties to the standards that one would expect from an Antonio Conte side. On multiple occasions, he failed to track runners and was constantly outmuscled by City players. City's game plan was an obvious one as they put the ball out wide to Jesus Navas, who would in turn, cross the ball to the far post targeting the Nigerian player.

While the three centre backs for Chelsea performed well in the first half to stop the talented City front line, they were certainly lucky on occasions. Their luck ran out at the end of the first half when Navas put in a cross for the umpteenth time and Cahill, for some reason, decided to clear the ball with his right foot rather than his left. Due to the poor connection, the ball deflected past Thibaut Courtois into the back of the net to give City the advantage going into the second half.

Chelsea's blistering pace too hot for City to handle

City had two great chances early on in the second half to put the game to bed but the Citizens failed to convert both. First, Aguero dispossessed Cahill before going round the keeper, but Cahill redeemed himself by blocking the shot off the goal line. The second chance was a much simpler one as a brilliant Navas cross found de Bruyne in space, no points for guessing who left his man, but the Belgian somehow managed to hit the crossbar when it would have been easier to score.

Chelsea made a change at half-time bringing on Willian to replace Pedro and it proved to be a masterstroke, but it wasn't evident initially. Chelsea turned the tide through Costa, who ran off Ottamendi to be found by a delightful long ball by Fabregas. The former Atletico man brought the ball down on his chest, came back onto his right foot and put the ball past the Claudio Bravo in the City goal. A few minutes later Guardiola made a surprising change bring on Gael Clichy to replace Sane for the last 20 minutes.

After the goal, Chelsea decided to sit back and invite pressure and play on the counter. The plan worked like a charm as Chelsea took the lead a minute after the Sane substitution. From a City attack, the ball fell to Hazard from a Fabregas clearance. The Belgian passed the ball off to Costa near the halfway line. Costa let the ball run across his body, taking Ottamendi out of the game and passing the ball into space ahead that Willian was running into. The Brazilian was too fast for Kolarov and he managed to produce a finish at the end of the run.

The Blues continued to play like the Chelsea of old, that sat back after taking the lead. The third goal game off a counter as well when a Marcos Alonso long ball found Hazard free and again it was Kolarov who was caught in a race with the Belgian. Hazard produced a consummate finish at the end of the move to cap a memorable win for the Blues.

Guardiola decided to mirror Chelsea's system, ditching his own successful system which was really odd. Whether it was out of respect or fear, we might never know but it is unlikely that he will try it again. One thing that caught the eye was the substitutions that Guardiola made today. The Catalan decided to bring on Clichy at a time when Chelsea were there for the taking. The former Arsenal defender had virtually no impact on the game, offensively or defensively.

After the second goal, Guardiola decided to ditch the 3 at the back and go to a 4-1-3-2, introducing Yaya Toure and Kelechi Iheanacho for Ilkay Gundogan and John Stones. Fernandinho was played as the defensive midfielder, while de Bruyne and Toure played on either side of Silva. Both full backs, Navas and Clichy bombed down the wings as Aguero and Iheanacho led the line. The team looked better playing in their usual system and it was just the Hazard goal in injury time that well and truly ended the game.