As in the Carabao Cup tie in November, a Riyad Mahrez free-kick broke the deadlock, on this occasion midway through the first half. It was 2-0 in no time when Julian Alvarez converted a penalty awarded after a VAR check for handball against Kai Havertz.

Having been undone by a pair of set-pieces, a fluent move cut us open and produced a third goal for the champions before the break, Phil Foden the scorer.

The second half was a closer contest but we couldn’t muster a shot on target, and City had the final word through another penalty, this one converted by Mahrez late on.

The selection

Graham Potter handed 19-year-old Bashir Humphreys his professional debut. He lined up next to Kalidou Koulibaly in central defence. The other positive for Potter pre-match was that he was able to welcome Mason Mount back into the side.

They were two of six fresh faces. Trevoh Chalobah and Lewis Hall also started in defence, the latter having played at this stadium in the Carabao Cup tie prior to the World Cup. Ahead of them, Jorginho returned in midfield to partner Mateo Kovacic.

However, Christian Pulisic and Raheem Sterling did not make the matchday squad having gone off injured early in Thursday’s league meeting. With Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang also not involved, in came Hakim Ziyech and Conor Gallagher.

The bench included new signings Benoit Badiashile and David Datro Fofana, the latter coming on for the second half.

Remembering Luca

The Chelsea players warmed up in shirts with the number nine on the back in honour of Gianluca Vialli, who so sadly passed away on Friday. Our former striker and manager was also celebrated with a minute’s applause before kick-off, and the 7500-strong away support chanted Vialli’s name with extra vigour.

As on Thursday, Chelsea started confidently. We beat City’s press on a couple of occasions early on to nearly fashion openings, although it was Kepa who was called into action first, smothering a low Mahrez cross.

The Spaniard then got a slight touch on Cole Palmer’s shot when we had allowed the young City midfielder to break beyond our backline. Havertz’s touch eluded him when we tried to do likewise having impressively played out from the back.

Mahrez again

Midway through the first half, though, lightening struck twice. Not only did Mahrez win Thursday’s game, he had opened the scoring with a free-kick in the Carabao Cup tie here. The Algerian repeated the trick from further out this time, bending his strike into the top corner.

Things went from bad to worse five minutes later. A corner from the left was inadvertently met with Havertz’s hand and not his head, spotted by VAR but not the referee. The decision was a clear one, and Alvarez beat Kepa to his right despite getting a good hand to the penalty.

It was 3-0 on 38 minutes. A smooth City move picked up pace when Kyle Walker overlapped onto Mahrez’s pass and cut the ball back for Foden to turn in from six yards.

The hosts nearly went in four up. Another slick attack opened us up, Mahrez the extra man this time, but thankfully the stretching Palmer couldn’t get a touch on it.

Second-half changes

Potter reacted to a chastening half of football by replacing Kovacic with Denis Zakaria, and Havertz with the debutant Fofana.

The first attempt of the second period, and our first of the game, arrived in the 55th minute. We played a free-kick short and Mount went for goal on the spin, his effort deflecting wide of Stefan Ortega’s reach and the far post.

A flurry of substitutions from both sides disrupted the flow of the contest and much of the second half passed with little incident of note. Mahrez curled an effort wide, and a similar fate befell Omari Hutchinson, who had come on for Ziyech.

There was further frustration for Potter and his side when Koulibaly fouled Foden inside the box and Mahrez thumped the resulting penalty high into the net with five minutes left. For the first time since 1998, we fall at the first hurdle in the FA Cup.

What’s next?

The Blues are on the road again on Thursday, although much closer to home at Fulham. We then welcome another London side, Crystal Palace, to the Bridge on Sunday.

Chelsea (4-3-3) Kepa; Chalobah, Humphreys, Koulibaly, Hall; Gallagher, Jorginho (c) (Azpilicueta 63), Kovacic (Zakaria h/t); Ziyech (Hutchinson 63), Havertz (D.Fofana h/t), Mount (Chukwuemeka 73).
Unused subs Bettinelli, Cucurella, Badiashile, Thiago Silva.
Booked Gallagher 62

Man City (3-4-3): Ortega; Walker (c), Laporte, Akanji; Silva, Rodri (Phillips 58), Gomez (Cancelo 59), Palmer; Mahrez, Alvarez, Foden.
Unused subs Ederson, Lewis, Ake, Stones, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Haaland.
Scorers Mahrez 23, 85 (pen) Alvarez 30 (pen), Foden 38
Booked Rodri 54, Silva 70, Cancelo 87

Referee Robert Jones
Crowd 51,505