Manchester City show their human side in Chelsea loss

Five things we learned from the weekend

1 Champions City are not perfect after all
Manchester City had been merrily moving along on top of the Premier League until Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Chelsea which saw them not only lose their lead but also the air of invincibility which had built up around Pep Guardiola's side.

It is only one defeat, their first in the league this season in one of the most difficult fixtures of the campaign, but City had no answer to the sucker-punch N'Golo Kante goal they conceded just before the break.

City played well in the first half and it had looked only a matter of time before they would score, but the concern came with an ordinary second-half show and Chelsea were comfortable even before David Luiz doubled their advantage.

City will be stronger when Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne and Benjamin Mendy return from injury, which is just as well because Guardiola clearly does not have faith in Gabriel Jesus.

The title race is on and maybe opponents will be less scared of City now they have been knocked down a peg.

2 Super Salah firing on all cylinders
"Salah looked good, didn’t he?," said Eddie Howe after his Bournemouth side had been battered 4-0 at new Premier League leaders Liverpool. "He looked razor sharp and we struggled to handle him. He’s one of the best in the world."

It has not been a perfect season for Salah, who had scored only twice in seven appearances prior to Saturday's trip to Dean Court, but the final two goals of his hat-trick were pure brilliance from the Egyptian king.

And what a time for Liverpool's star man to return to his best.

Next up is the huge Champions League clash with Napoli before a demanding festive period which sees Liverpool face Manchester United (home), Wolves (away), Newcastle (home), Arsenal (home) and City (away) before their FA Cup third-round trip to Molineux.

3 Tottenham hot without Kane
There seems to be a media meltdown every time Mauricio Pochettino rotates his squad but it usually works out for the best. It's as if he may know more about his players and football in general than the critics.

This time it was Harry Kane's turn to sit on the bench as Spurs won 2-0 at Leicester and, despite a notion Tottenham are a one-man team, their results suggest otherwise.

Spurs have scored seven goals in the three matches Kane has failed to start this season and they won seven of the ten without him last term, including a 3-1 triumph at Chelsea. Poch knows best.

4 Trouble lurking for Pirates
Bristol Rovers boss Darrell Clarke seemed emotional after their 4-0 home defeat to Doncaster, suggesting things were not right behind the scenes as he insinuated the club would have no new training ground or stadium despite the owners saying otherwise.

Clarke has done a sensational job to get Rovers back up to Sky Bet League One from the National League, but this looks a difficult situation for him to reverse after four straight league defeats, particularly after he also said there would be cuts to the budget.

5 Powell's side lacking power
The 2-0 score did not do justice to Portsmouth's dominant display against injury-hit Southend, who look a team to oppose after losing the shots-on-target count 7-0 at Fratton Park.

Chris Powell's side have two winnable games at home to Accrington and Rochdale before Christmas, but they could be vulnerable favourites in both contests.

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