Man City 1 Chelsea 1
Man City faced Chelsea at The Etihad having dropped to third in the table due to other results earlier in the day. With the title race hotting up between three teams, they could ill-afford anything but a win to keep up with the pack.
Manchester lived up to its stereotype on an extremely wet evening, with Pep Guardiola’s side starting as ever on the front foot. Alvarez got to the byline and crossed, picking out Haaland in the box. The Norwegian rose to meet it with his head, the only shock was that he put it wide of the goal.
Cole Palmer almost came back to haunt his old side as he played a brilliant pass through the Man City defence from his own half to set Gusto away. With Jackson in support, it seemed a goal was certain but as he squared the ball the Chelsea forward could not sort his feet out quickly enough.
Ederson came steaming out of his goal and took advantage of the poor control by Jackson as he managed to block the eventual shot. It was an early warning shot from the visitors that they had not come here to just roll over.
Credit: @ManCity
Mauricio Pochettino’s side had failed to impress in the main this season, but there have been glimpses of potential. The problem is, with all the money they have spent, you feel FFP breaches are imminent and this could possibly be a League Two fixture in the not so distant future.
How on earth they have got away with spending over £1bn on transfers in just over 18 months beggars belief but on the same note, so does giving your brother-in-law £200m for him to sponsor your team’s stadium but this is where these two teams are at.
The Blues made their move just before half time as Jackson and Palmer played a neat one-two before the Senegalese striker burst down the wing. He played a perfectly weighted pass in behind the defence to Sterling, who cut onto his right foot and slotted home to break the deadlock.
Pep Guardiola erupted on the touchline like he had just been told there was another 115 charges incoming as his side fell behind in the game just before the interval. The Spaniard was not happy with what he saw from his team out on the pitch.
Foden slotted the ball into the box as Walker and Sterling sprinted towards the ball. The pair ended up in a heap on the floor and as the referee waved away claims of a penalty, the Man City defender started to have some sort of tantrum on the turf that seemed like he was doing ‘the worm’.
Man City broke with pace as a Chelsea attack broke down and De Bruyne played it into the path of Foden out wide. His cross found Haaland at the back post but incredibly the goal-machine volleyed his effort wide of the post.
Credit: @ManCity
Chelsea felt the game was there for the taking as Gusto whipped a cross in to find Sterling in the middle. His shot was saved by the feet of Ederson before the ball was recycled by the visitors and headed off the goal line by Ruben Dias after the keeper had tried to save Chilwell’s effort.
Haaland continued to try and find a goal and as he got a shot away, it deflected off the defender, and Petrovic made a great save. Moments later the Norwegian was picked out in the box but once again he headed the ball over the crossbar.
Fans could not believe what they were seeing from their record-breaking striker. It was like somebody had dressed Nicklas Bendtner up in an Erling Haaland costume before kick-off. The Norwegian forward had spurned enough chances to win this game on his own.
With time running out, it seemed Man City were heading for defeat. Walker tried a volley from the edge of the box but it was blocked and came out to Rodri. He drilled a shot towards goal, which deflected off Chalobah’s thigh and into the back of the net.
Guardiola’s side felt there was still enough time to win this game and as Rodri headed the ball towards goal, it struck Chalobah and deflected narrowly wide of the far post with Petrovic rooted to the spot. The Chelsea substitute nearly won the game for the hosts single-handedly.
In a game that was labelled as ‘El Cashico’ or ‘the Financial Fair Play derby’ the sides ended up sharing the points. It did Man City no favours in their title challenge but will give Pochettino’s side a lot of confidence heading into a Carabao Cup final next weekend.
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