Graham Potter’s future as Chelsea manager is hanging in the balance following his side’s 4-0 thumping at the hands of Manchester City – their fifth defeat in seven games
It’s difficult to see how much more humiliation Graham Potter can survive.
If the Chelsea boss thought the FA Cup would be a welcome distraction from his side’s Premier League woes, then how wrong he was.
Instead, Potter and his millionaire flops suffered more pain as a second string Manchester City team brushed them aside with utter disdain at the Etihad to cruise into the FA Cup fourth round.
This was Chelsea’s fifth defeat in the last seven games in all competitions. But it was the manner of it that will concern Chelsea owner Todd Boehly the most, after the American billionaire witnessed a toothless display lacking spirit and fight.
And don’t mention Riyad Mahrez to Potter, who must be sick of the sight of the Algerian. Mahrez followed up his winning strike at Stamford Bridge last week with a sensational free kick to get this thrashing started on 23 minutes.
World Cup winner Julian Alvarez and Phil Foden also scored to make it 3-0 before half time, while Mahrez added a fourth late on.
Both managers had rung the changes following the midweek clash between these two. And Pep Guardiola could even afford to rest the likes of Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan, who were all on the bench.
But despite fielding a weakened team, Guardiola still refused to hand a start to Kalvin Phillips in the wake of him criticising the England ace for being overweight.
Potter, meanwhile, headed to Manchester with problems stacking up all around him. Just one win in six games in all competitions resembled a crisis for the man who was only appointed in September.
A trip to the Etihad was the last thing he needed and to make things even worse, Potter had a raft of injuries to key personnel to deal with. Potter resisted the temptation to throw in new £35m signing Benoit Badiashile, but did hand a debut to Bashir Humphreys in defence while Mason Mount was a welcome returnee.
It took a while for the action to warm up but it was City who threatened first on 10 minutes when Mahrez broke free down the right, but saw his dangerous cross well held by Kepa.
And the visitors should have gone behind nine minutes later when Aymeric Laporte’s pass sent Cole Palmer clean through on goal, but he shot into the side netting. Potter’s men were not so fortunate soon after though, when Mahrez broke the deadlock with an absolute stunner into the top corner from 30 yards.
There was little the visitors could have done to stop it. But City’s second goal was all of Chelsea’s own making when Kai Havertz handled Foden’s corner for no apparent reason, allowing Alvarez to beat Kepa and double his side’s advantage.
Potter slumped back into the dugout fearing the worst. And he was right to, because Foden finished off a wonderful team move to make it 3-0 as the onslaught continued.
The game was over as a contest inside 38 brutal minutes and this was now all about damage limitation and pride for the London outfit. But Chelsea couldn’t even manage this and continued to shoot themselves in the foot when Kalidou Koulibaly felled Foden to concede a late penalty.
Mahrez stepped up to convert from the spot – and only time will tell if it proves to be the final nail in Potter’s coffin.
MANCHESTER CITY (4-3-3): Ortega 7; Walker 7, Akanji 7, Laporte 7, Gomez 7 (Cancelo 58, 7); Silva 8 (Lewis 86), Rodri 7 (Phillips 58, 7), Foden 8; MAHREZ 9, Alvarez 8, Palmer 7.
CHELSEA (4-2-3-1): Kepa 6; Chalobah 6, Humphreys 6, Koulibaly 6, Hall 7; KOVAVCIC 8 (Zakaria 46, 6), Jorginho 6 (Azpilicueta 63, 6); Gallagher 7, Ziyech 6 (Hutchinson 63, 6), Mount 6 (Chukwuemeka 73); Havertz 5 (Fofana 46, 6).
Referee: Robert Jones 7
MOM: Riyad Mahrez – Sensational free kick.
SOURCE: dailystar.co.uk
