Manchester City takes big step to defending English Premier League title after beating Chelsea

By Ben Church, CNN

Updated 1526 GMT (2326 HKT) January 15, 2022

Kevin De Bruyne celebrates with teammate Raheem Sterling after scoring at the Etihad Stadium on January 15, 2022.

(CNN)Manchester City stretched its lead at the top of the English Premier League to 13 points after a 1-0 victory against Chelsea on Saturday.

It was talisman Kevin De Bruyne who made the difference with a beautifully crafted shot from the outside of the box after 70 minutes. City has now won 12 league games in a row and looks strong to defend its Premier League title.Chelsea remains in second with Liverpool one point behind with two games in hand — Jurgen Klopp's side now looks like the only side that could challenge Pep Guardiola's title defense. «We will not give up but if Manchester City keeps winning every game, no one can stop them,» Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel said after the match.Antonio Ruediger tackles De Bruyne during the English Premier League match.Read More'Momentum can change'City looked impressive throughout with its star players, such as De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling, turning up for the big game against their title rivals. Chelsea may have looked passive for large parts of the match — it failed to register a shot on target in the first half — but Tuchel's side had chances to claim all three points. The best fell to Romelu Lukaku who saw his curled effort brilliantly saved by goalkeeper Ederson with the scores still level. Jack Grealish had spurned City's best chance of the match in the first half but De Bruyne saved his blushes with a superb effort from a distance with just 20 minutes remaining. Ted Lasso got on board with the idea of a tie as a win. Maybe the rest of us should too«It's nice to score, it was important as it was