Chelsea were leapfrogged by Manchester City into third place in the Premier League after surrendering an early lead to lose 2-1 to the Citizens at the Etihad on Saturday evening.
N'Golo Kante opened the scoring for Frank Lampard's side as he squeezed the ball past the onrushing Ederson after 21 minutes, but a reply of two goals in eight first-half minutes from Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez saw City take all three points.
Positives
Despite going into the break behind, it was an excellent first-half showing from the Londoners, as they harried their hosts into mistakes, whilst offering a constant threat on the break.
Negatives
In becoming a much more expansive attacking unit, Chelsea have relinquished some of the defensive solidity of years gone by, and there is still an air of naivety among a backline that hasn't had a huge amount of game time together.
Manager rating out of 10
6, -- Lampard looked to contain City and catch them on the counter, and it worked a treat for the first 25 minutes, but after his side went behind, they struggled to provide a sustained threat.
Player ratings (1-10; 10 = best, players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating)
GK Kepa Arrizabalega, 6 -- The Chelsea stopper could do nothing about either of City's goals, but was hugely fortunate not to hand Sergio Aguero one of his own when he passed the ball straight to the forward as he attempted to clear his lines.
DF Emerson, 5 -- The left back wasted a promising opening when he shot straight at Ederson in the City goal when there were better passing options available, before defending poorly as Mahrez cut inside the Brazilian and fired home to put City ahead. Replaced by Reece James after 58 minutes.
DF Fikayo Tomori, 6 -- Unlucky not to open the scoring in the opening quarter of an hour when he screwed a left-footed shot wide from a Chelsea corner, but the centre half should've dealt better with a loose ball in the build-up to de Bruyne's goal for 1-1.
DF Kurt Zouma, 6 -- An unfortunate deflection off the Frenchman wrong-footed his goalkeeper and gave the hosts the leveler, but the former Everton loanee looked the more assured of Chelsea's central defensive pairing.
DF Cesar Azpilicueta, 6 -- Kept Raheem Sterling on a tight leash on City's left flank as he quietly went about his business, before switching to left back as Chelsea brought on the more attacking-minded Reece James.
MF Jorginho, 6 -- Played his part in the opener with a neat return pass to Kovacic, but the Italian needlessly gave away possession on the halfway line, allowing City to break away and equalize just before the half-hour. Booked for blocking off a de Bruyne run on the hour, and subbed off for Mason Mount after 74 minutes.
MF Mateo Kovacic, 7 - Some fabulous play from the former Real Madrid man saw him provide a lovely glided ball over the top of the City defence to release Kante for the game's opening goal.
MF N'golo Kante, 7 -- There was a small slice of luck in the Frenchman's opener, but a dogged run from deep created the chance for him to poke the ball home, and it was a typically busy performance from Chelsea's number 7.
MF Christian Pulisic, 5 -- The former Borussia Dortmund man never really got into the game after seeing plenty of the ball in the opening stages.
MF Willian, 6 -- Really should have done better when he shot wide in the penalty area following good early work from Tammy Abraham, and nearly found the net with a rasping volley from the edge of the box in the final 15 minutes.
ST Tammy Abraham, 6 -- The England man worked hard and got himself into plenty of good positions, but will be disappointed he didn't see enough of the ball from his attacking colleagues. Replaced by Michy Batshuayi for the final quarter of an hour.
Substitutes
Reece James, 6 -- Got forward well from right back as Chelsea pushed for an equalizer.
Michy Batshuayi, N/A -- Unable to find a late leveler.
Mason Mount, N/A -- Fired a late free kick narrowly wide from distance.