Stunning Kevin De Bruyne strike leaves Chelsea’s title hopes in tatters as Manchester City earn comfortable win

Kevin De Bruyne scored a stunning solo goal as Manchester City beat Chelsea 1-0 to go 13 points clear at the top of the Premier League table.

The Belgian's strike gave City a deserved win after a tactical battle between two defensively rock solid teams which yielded few chances.

Pep Guardiola's side controlled the pace and tempo, particularly in midfield, and had the better chances with Jack Grealish spurning the best of them.

The Blues failed to register a shot in the first half with Romelu Lukaku wasting a good opportunity in a rare attack when instead of shooting, he overhit his pass to Hakim Ziyech who was offside.

The Belgian striker, who was starved of service despite making several good runs, had a great chance to break the deadlock at the start of the second half but his first-time effort was beaten away by Ederson.

But City continued to dominate the second period with Raheem Sterling firing a shot narrowly wide.

Thomas Tuchel brought on Timo Werner and Callum Hudson Odoi but almost instantly City took the lead when captain De Bruyne went past N'Golo Kante and curled a wonderful shot into the bottom corner from outside the box.

And City held on to make it 12 wins in the league in a row, giving Pep an early birthday present for Tuesday, while Chelsea remain second.

Chelsea defended brilliantly for large parts but were second best in midfield throughout with thir final ball lacking. Pulisic was picked ahead of Mount and did little to provide service for Lukaku. Mount's pace and creativity could have swung the game more in the Blues' favour but he remained on the bench until the 81st minute with Werner and Hudson-Odoi brought on earlier, both of whom have been less reliable than the England midfielder this season. Mount, who has seven goals in the Premier League this season, looked more livelier than Pulisic and Ziyech when he eventually came on but had little time to impact the game.

Raheem Sterling (Man City): The England midfielder was a threat throughout with his pace and jinking runs and was unfortunate not to end up on the scoresheet. He also created good chances for Phil Foden and Jack Grealish.

MANCHESTER CITY: Ederson 7, Walker 6, Stones 6, Laporte 8, Cancelo 5, Rodri 5, De Bruyne 8, Foden 6, Bernardo Silva 5, Grealish 5, Sterling 8. Subs: Gundogan n/a, Jesus n/a.

CHELSEA: Kepa 7, Thiago 7, Rudiger 7, Sarr 7, Azpilicueta 7, Kante 5, Kovacic 6, Alonso 6, Pulisic 4, Ziyech 5, Lukaku 6. Subs: Werner n/a, Hudson-Odoi n/a, Mount n/a.

39' - GOOD SAVE! Kovacic gives it away, it falls to Grealish who bursts into the box and his stabbed shot is saved by Kepa for a corner which is cleared. Grealish should have scored.

47' - LUKAKU CHANCE! Lukaku is through on goal, his shot is beaten away by Ederson off his line. Ziyech makes a mess of the rebound. Seconds earlier, Sterling had a penalty shout but the ref said play on.

70' - WHAT A GOAL! De Bruyne with a fantastic run and curling shot into the bottom corner from outside the box.

Kevin De Bruyne has now scored five goals against Chelsea in the Premier League, the most by a former player against the Blues.