Chelsea Blues were first-rate and led by Raheem Sterling, but City needed a late goal from Rodri to save a draw.Erling Haaland passed up some fantastic opportunities.
On Saturday, Manchester City’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea was made possible by a late goal from midfielder Rodri.
Raheem Sterling, a former City player, gave the Blues a solid first-half lead. However, Rodri’s goal late in the game concealed an uncharacteristically subpar showing from Pep Guardiola’s team.
Erling Haaland summarised City’s problems by missing two excellent headed opportunities and missing another.
The course of the game
After City got off to a fast start with a header from Julian Alvarez that flew well wide of the goal, Haaland should have been enjoying a simple tap-in.
On the counter, Chelsea did present a genuine danger. Both Conor Gallagher’s risky cut-back and Cole Palmer’s deft through pass were expertly cleared, and although Sterling managed to find a little window of opportunity, his effort was meek.
Twenty minutes in, a counterattack put Nicolas Jackson one on one with Ederson; however, the City custodian got big and blocked the attempt. Jackson should have scored. Sterling made a similar error ten minutes later, but his blushes were saved by a late offside flag.
At halftime, though, Sterling would not make a mistake of that kind. The former City player was put through on goal by another counterattack, and he ensured that his effort went in the goal after dodging his defender.
Haaland had another fantastic opportunity to start the second half. Phil Foden sent a cross into the back post during a fantastic play, but the Norway striker was unable to control his effort with his feet.
With City’s defence at times seemed disoriented, Ederson had to stop another close-range attempt from Sterling and manage enough on the follow-up from Ben Chilwell to give Ruben Dias enough time to clear the ball away.
From the hour mark on, the hosts were giving Chelsea everything they had, leaving a sea of space in their wake. Kevin De Bruyne’s cross gave Haaland another fantastic opportunity, but this time, his header was wildly off target.
When eight minutes remained, City finally found the net, and Rodri struck again, this time with a huge goal.
Trevoh Chalobah deflected the Spaniard’s thunderous effort, which wound up in the back of the net, but it was probably going there regardless.
Chelsea managed to avoid a VAR check after the four minutes of added time, providing further opportunity for late drama. The Blues held on to secure a result that might have significant implications in this season’s title fight.
Man City’s four-four-one player rankings
GK: Ederson – 7/10 – Jackson caught him in possession during the first half, but he made up for it with some truly outstanding stops. halted Chelsea’s escape with this. RB: Kyle Walker – 5/10 – Too readily allowed Sterling to cut inside on his preferred foot. frequently left room behind him, something Chelsea ought to have taken advantage of more.
Ruben Dias, CB: 4/10 Dias was occasionally forced to scramble in defence due to either bad placement or some stupid tactics. Seemed to be chasing back at all times.
Manuel Akanji, CB: 4/10 nearly didn’t appear to fit. couldn’t match Chelsea’s quick counterattacks.
Nathan Ake, LB: 7/10 made a few outrageous challenges to try and keep Chelsea’s right side quiet. DM: Rodri – 6/10 – Enjoyed better possession of the ball after halftime after being man-marked out of the first half by Gallagher. was the hero once more after scoring an equaliser.
RM: 5/10 for Phil Foden There were a few enjoyable moments, but it was just too quiet. Received no modification from Chilwell.
CM: Kevin De Bruyne – 6/10 – Chelsea’s first goal came from an unusually bad ball. attempted to bring City back into the match by playing some excellent balls.
CM: Julian Alvarez – 5/10 – Happy to shoot when in range, but he didn’t really threaten Petrovic in the Chelsea goal very much.
LM: Five Stars, Jeremy Doku had numerous opportunities to run at Gusto and occasionally even outmuscled the Frenchman, but he rarely contributed anything noteworthy as he entered the final third.
ST: Erling Haaland – 4/10 – After missing his early header, he had to fight to regain control of the game. late in the second half, another sitter was missed.
Replacements: Bernardo Silva (64′ in place of Alvarez) – 5/10
Stefan Ortega (GK), John Stones, Rico Lewis, Matheus Nunes, Mateo Kovacic, Mahamadou Susoho, Sergio Gomez, and Oscar Bobb were the substitutes who did not play.