Chelsea’s woes further worsened on Sunday (January 3), as Manchester City delivered a crushing 3-1 defeat as the London-based side struggles to gain a footing in the English Premier League (EPL).

The runaway nightmare was off to a horrific start as The Blues, playing at home, were found wanting from as early as the 15th minute.

João Cancelo created City’s first real chance as he played a fantastic ball to Kevin De Bruyne, who was just wide of goal.

Ilkay Guendogan, assisted by Phil Foden, fired Manchester City into the lead in the 18th – winding through the lacklustre Chelsea defence to break the deadlock – sending shockwaves throughout Stamford Bridge.

Three minutes later, the deficit doubled as Foden joined the goalscoring roster. The 20-year-old UK midfielder’s incredible run found De Bruyne, who lobbed back to him before Foden slotted past keeper Edouard Mendy. It was now 2-0, and Chelsea was in trouble.

Just after the half-hour mark, Jamaican Raheem Sterling got in on the action, and was on par to score his fifth goal of the season in the 34th, but he hesitated as the effort hitting the post.

De Bruyne was waiting in the wind, however, got on the rebound and coolly slot home for The Citizens’ third of the afternoon.

Half-time saw a bubbly Man City head to the dressing room, as the Frank Lampard-managed Chelsea looked despondent.

Returning to the field, Chelsea continued to be unimpressive with the ball, however, managed to eek out a consolation at the stroke of stoppage time—as the match ended, embarrasingly at 3-1.

City manager Pep Guardiola called the result at Stamford Bridge excellent, urging his players to keep the momentum going if the skyblues are to challenge for the EPL title.

“Chelsea are one of strongest teams and they are suffering from last game, but you see the quality of their players and the bench. We had a plan – we tried to play like we have in the past and it worked,” he said.

“The players were excellent in every way especially with the ball. We cannot play like other teams, we have to play in our rhythm and attack in the right moment. We won titles in that way, more patient. We have missed a bit of this tempo and today we had it,” Guardiola added.

Chelsea, now losing four of their last six games, languishes in eighth in the EPL standings, on 26 points, while Manchester City, on 29, bounced up to fifth behind leaders Liverpool, Manchester United, Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspurs.