Southgate will have noticed that Kalvin Phillips was back on the bench for City after his shoulder injury and looked off-load in the warm-up. Phil Foden was also on the bench, among the players expected to be in Southgate’s squad named today (Thursday).
With seconds remaining in the first half, Hall found himself in a good position and got past Lewis. With only Ortega to beat, the German goalkeeper used his legs to avoid the goal.
Phillips came on just after the break, with Bernardo Silva also brought on and immediately giving Chelsea problems with his direct running. It changed City’s dynamic and they went ahead with their next wave of attacks.
Mahrez was the instigator, attacking the Chelsea defenders and crawling through challenges until Trevoh Chalobah hacked him down on the edge of the box. Having won the free-kick, Mahrez took the set piece and slotted it over the wall into the empty side of the net, with neither Koulibaly nor Armando Broja covering themselves in glory with their work on the defensive wall.
Alvarez added to the scoreboard, making it three straight games on the scoreboard. After spreading the play to Mahrez with a long pass, he headed into the penalty area where he finished after Edouard Mendy had deflected.
Man City (4-3-3): Ortega; Lewis, Dias, Laporte (Ake 81), Gomez; Gundogan (Bernardo 50), Rodri (Phillips 50), Palmer; Mahrez, Alvarez, Grealish
Subs (not used): Ederson (g), Stones, Haaland, De Bruyne, Akanji, Foden
Chelsea (3-4-3): Mendy; Chalobah (Azpilicueta 68), Koulibaly, Cucarella; Hall (Havertz 75), Zakaria (Mount 68), Kovacic, Loftus-Cheek; Ziyech (Gallagher 68), Broja (Sterling 68), Pulisic.
Subs (not used): Bettinelli (g), Thiago, Aubameyang, Hutchinson
Reserved: Chalobah, Koulibaly, Grealish, Azpilicueta
Referee: Simon Hooper (Wiltshire)