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LONDON. — On the face of it, Manchester City’s 1-0 victory at Stamford Bridge last Saturday evening was an excellent performance and a statement of intent for the rest of the English Premier League. It showed what Pep Guardiola and his team are looking to achieve this season and it was a no-nonsense, turn-up-and-get-the-job-done display. He took his side to one of the toughest grounds in the league, got his tactics spot on and comfortably outplayed the hosts.

However, in the context of what’s gone before it for City — in Guardiola’s first year at the club and in Manuel Pellegrini’s final two seasons at the Etihad — the victory on Saturday goes a lot further than that. It’s the latest step in the manager’s bid to chance the club’s mentality.

Guardiola believes that for City to be considered one of the elite, then they have to stop looking for excuses and get on with the job whatever the circumstances. They had the perfect opportunity to fall ahead of the trip to Stamford Bridge, with three key players injured: Vincent Kompany, Benjamin Mendy and Sergio Aguero. It would have been easy for the manager to abandon the style of play that’s proved so successful to this point this season and to take a more pragmatic approach facing the champions.

Bullish and steadfast in his beliefs, Guardiola was never going to try and stifle Chelsea in the traditional way — by defending deep and hitting them on the break. In his view, City are a top team and they don’t change for anyone, even the champions on their own ground. “We’ll go there and play the way we’d have done it with Sergio, Kompany, Mendy,” he said before the game. While they might have tweaked their game plan a little — it’s hard to believe Mendy would have played left-back in the same manner as Fabian Delph did. — ESPN.