Pep urges Chelsea to give 'outstanding' Potter time

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola told Chelsea owner Todd Boehly he must give Graham Potter time to implement his ideas at Stamford Bridge after watching his side beat the Blues for the second time in four days.

Following on from Thursday's 1-0 Premier League win in the capital which left Chelsea in 10th place, City dumped Potter's side out of the FA Cup with a resounding 4-0 win at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

Riyad Mahrez opened the scoring with a fine free-kick before Julian Alvarez's penalty and a Phil Foden strike made it 3-0 before the break, and Mahrez finished the job with another spot-kick in the second half.

The half-time whistle was greeted by boos from the travelling support, and by the second half Chelsea fans were singing the name of former owner Roman Abramovich and Potter's predecessor Thomas Tuchel as they recalled happier times.

But Guardiola, who praised Potter when he was at Brighton, urged Chelsea to stick with their man.

"I would say to Todd Boehly, give him time," Guardiola said. "I know in big clubs, results are important but I'd say give him time.

"The second half is what he is. What he's done at Brighton is outstanding, but... we need time in the first season. I had [Lionel] Messi in Barcelona my first season so I didn't need two seasons because Messi was there."

Chelsea did not manage a shot in a first half Potter described as "painful", failing to even vaguely threaten Stefan Ortega's goal until a Mason Mount shot in the 54th minute which was deflected wide

He could point to an ongoing injury crisis which kept nine players out of this fixture and led to teenager Bashir Humphreys making his senior debut in defence, but Potter accepted Chelsea fans needed to see more.

"The results in a small space of