Manchester City 1-1 Chelsea: Pep Guardiola’s side lose ground in the title race as they fall six points behind Arsenal
It was difficult to know what to expect from Chelsea, the London side travelling north to visit Pep Guardiola’s title-chasing Manchester City so soon after letting go of the plucky Enzo Maresca.
Word on the ground was that the Italian could not be faulted for his tactical approach or performance so far, instead booted out in an attempt at power play gone wrong. He has been rumoured to have held talks with City’s leadership about replacing Guardiola should the Spaniard depart this season, but on the evidence of getting sacked in only his third year of management, and leaving his young side managerless in the icy midwinter, one does wonder if the hierarchy at the Etihad will still retain their interest in him.
In Maresca’s absence, U-21 coach Callum McFarlane led his side against the Cityzens and while the first half performance was worrying, the interim head coach showed superb insight to switch to a back three in the second and shake off City’s yoke. His side’s fighting spirit was the icing on the cake as Enzo Fernandez battled in stoppage time to turn home at the second time of asking and steal a point for the Blues, when it looked like Tijjani Reijnders’ delicious first-half goal might prove the winner.
After Malo Gusto scorched past Nico O’Reilly on Chelsea’s right, his low cross sent shockwaves through the City box. It missed Liam Delap and glanced off Nathan Ake but then fell to Fernandez, who fired goalwards. Gianluigi Donnarumma parried but Fernandez was tenacious, reaching forward to poke home and deflate the home side.
City will be disappointed. With this draw Arsenal are now a full six-points clear and the task of beating them to the title is now much harder. There is some solace to be found in the fact that it was after all a draw against one of the top six sides, and Arsenal too had stumbled against the Blues, but after being so close at home against a side undergoing managerial upheaval, Guardiola’s side will be unable to shake off the feeling that this was a missed opportunity.
City’s gameplan might as well have been to pass Chelsea to boredom. The home side had 68 per cent possession in the first half with very few chances created, but perhaps mindful of the distance rivals Arsenal are putting between them in the race for the title, they kicked on as the break drew closer. Erling Haaland could have been fortunate with a big deflection off Benoit Badiashile but Filip Jorgensen – standing in after Robert Sanchez was ruled out for a small muscle issue – was alert in goal. The Norwegian’s curling effort then thumped the post moments later, before Reijnders broke the deadlock.
With three minutes to go before half time, the Dutchman pounced on a loose ball and then hammered a blistering shot past Jorgensen.
Chelsea struggled to create anything in the first period. Estevao had a chance to break the deadlock early on but slipped as he tried to shoot from 10 yards out and Josko Gvardiol was on hand to block. But the visitors reacted well to going behind before half time and in the second half their play improved. Neto should have levelled five minutes in but was profligate inside the box. Delap’s effort at the near post was well saved by Donnarumma.
The Englishman then got frustrated and was booked for shoving Abdukodir Khusanov into the advertising hoardings. But at least Chelsea had started to play with verve and desire. Cole Palmer’s attempted side-footed shot failed and Delap was unable to take advantage when it fell to him. When six minutes of stoppage time were signalled, a Chelsea equaliser had begun to look very, very likely. Things continued to roll the visitors’ way before Fernandez made the pressure count at the death.
