Pep Guardiola hailed Manchester City's powers of recovery after their 3-1 win over Chelsea, saying taking greater care in possession was the key to turning things around.

City's difficult spell looked set to continue when an error by debutant Abdukodir Khusanov allowed Noni Madueke to put Chelsea ahead inside three minutes.

However, Josko Gvardiol equalised late in the first half and City were comfortably the better team after the break, with Erling Haaland lobbing Robert Sanchez to make it 2-1 before Phil Foden killed the contest late on.

The result saw City leapfrog Chelsea to go fourth in the Premier League table, as they fight to salvage Champions League qualification from a difficult season.

City are also fighting to remain in the current edition of UEFA's top club competition, with a 4-2 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday leaving their hopes of reaching the knockout stages in the balance.

"We have struggled lately, and it has been a tough, tough season. Most players have been here eight or nine years, and I am not going to change my opinion in two months," Guardiola told BBC Match of the Day.

"We have to realise it is not enough, what we are doing. I asked them to step up and we did it. We created enough chances to score goals and, in the end, I am really pleased.

"Emotionally, they came back incredibly well. Chelsea, we know the talent they have – it was really good. We were tired because we have an old team.

"We have had a tough period because playing Ipswich and then three days ago in Paris, it was really tough for us physically."

City enjoyed 57% of the possession on Saturday and won the expected goals battle comfortably, with their 15 shots totalling 2.7 xG to Chelsea's 1.61 from 10 efforts.

Guardiola says taking greater care of the ball was the key, adding: "If we don't pass the ball, we are one of the worst teams. We need the ball to survive."

The City boss also remains confident that Khusanov will be a hit in the Premier League despite an error-strewn debut.

His poor header in the build-up to Madueke's opener was the sixth error leading to a goal by a City player this season – twice as many as they committed in 2019-20.

He then earned a fourth-minute booking for chopping down Cole Palmer, the earliest yellow card for a Premier League debutant since Cardiff City's Lee Peltier versus Bournemouth in 2018 (third minute).

Khusanov was replaced by John Stones after 54 minutes, and Guardiola says that decision was made to protect him from a possible red card. 

"It was not the best start. He knows it, but he will learn. He is so young. He will learn in the future," Guardiola said. 

"His substitution was for the yellow card. John was coming back from an injury. When John arrived here, he struggled in his first season."