Manchester City 1, Chelsea 1
Enzo Fernandez scored a 94th minute equaliser to cancel out Tijjani Reijnders first half strike as managerless Chelsea further dented Manchester City’s Premier League hopes.
Manchester City applied constant pressure to the visitors but could not apply the finish – Erling Haaland hit the post – until they upped the second half pace and and one of Rayan Cherki’s forward passes was not dealt with by Beniot Badiashile with Tijjani Reijnders creating space and scoring the opening goal courtesy of a deflection off Badiashile.
City lost Josko Gvardiol to a serious looking injury – the Croat limped off supported by medical personnel at the start of the season half after being replaced by Abdudokir Khusanov.
And City continued to create chances but Haaland could not double City’s lead thanks to some poor shooting and heroic blocking from the Chelsea defence.
The lack of a second goal for City eventually came back to bite them on the backside after Malo Gusto was allowed to cross from the right, the loose ball took a deflection off Nathan Ake (who was on for the injured Ruben Dias) and found Enzo Fernandez on the back post.
His missed his first chance with an air kick, his second chance was saved by Gigi Donnarumma but the Argentine finished off his third chance drilling home the rebound from close range to give Chelsea an unlikely 94th minute equaliser.
The draw leaves City 6 points behind Arsenal as they leapfrogged above Aston Villa back into second place.
Embed from Getty ImagesPLAYER RATINGS – Manchester City 1, Chelsea 1
Gianluigi Donnarumma: 6. Little to do in the first half, collected a cross from Pedro Neto at the start of the second half. Smothered a shot by Liam Delap, could have done better on the Enzo Fernandez equaliser.
Matheus Nunes: 6. Great going forward and good on the ball, lost the ball a fair bit though.
Ruben Dias: 7. Solid defending at the back. Won a lot of the ball and saw a looping header saved. Came off with injury.
Josko Gvardiol: 6. Headed away an early corner by Chelsea which was flicked on. Sustained a nasty looking injury which ended his day early in the second half.
Nico O’Reilly: 7. Didn’t need to venture forward too much and played a steady defensive game where he mopped up anything Chelsea sent down his side.
Rodri: 7. Looked ready to play again after second half showing at Sunderland. Sprayed passes around including one that should have been finished off by Erling Haaland but came off the post. Targeted for fouls by Reece James but played on.
Tijjani Reijnders: 7. Good surgeon runs forward from the left, scored a deserved goal with the help of a deflection.
Bernardo Silva: 6. Inventive on the ball, chipped one over the bar. Kept City ticking and the ball in play several times.
Rayan Cherki: 6. Exciting start but wild passing and shooting at times.
Phil Foden: 6. Shot wide from 13 yards after controlling a cross from Tijjani Reijnders.
Erling Haaland: 7. Shot deflected off Trevor Chalobah and tipped away by Filip Jorgensen. Curling effort came back off the post, constant threat on the break and had presentable chances which he should have put away.
Abdudokir Khusanov (on for Josko Gvardiol, 51): 6. Not given too much to do as Riben Dias aggressively pressed in front of the defence but timed his interceptions well. Big cheers as he outmuscled Liam Delap late on the game leading to some handbags.
Jeremy Doku (on for Tijjani Reijnders, 70): 6. On to exploit any spaces left by Chelsea, found a delicious pass to release Phil Foden.
Nathan Ake (on for Ruben Dias, 81): No time to mark
GOALS – Manchester City 1, Chelsea 1
Man City 1, Chelsea 0: 42. Tijjani Reijnders created a little space and smashed home the ball courtesy of a small deflection off Benoit Badiashile after the Frenchman couldn’t stop Rayan Cherki’s ball forward.
Man City 1, Chelsea 1: 90+4, Malo Gusto’s cross was missed by everyone and Enzo Fernandez stabbed the loose ball home after Gigi Donnarumma had initially saved the shot. VAR check on an offside by Liam Delap doesn’t save City.
MATCH STATS – Manchester City 1, Chelsea 1
Man City: Donnarumma, Nunes, Dias (Ake 81), Gvardiol (Khusanov 51), O’Reilly, Rodri, Reijnders (Doku 70), Silva (C), Cherki, Foden, Haaland
Man City Subs not used: Trafford, McAidoo, Mukasa, Lewis, Mfuni, R Heskey
Bookings: Dias 55 (foul on Joao Pedro); Nunes 79 (dissent); Silva 90+3 (ungentlemanly conduct)
Goal: Reijnders 42
Chelsea: Jorgensen, Acheampong (Hato 62), Chalobah, Badiashile, Gusto, James (C), Fernandez, Estevao (Santos 46), Palmer, Neto, Pedro (Delap 62)
Chelsea Subs not used: Slonina, Merrick, Adarabioyo, Gittens, Guiu, Garnacho
Bookings: James 53 (foul on Rodri); Delap 78 (ungentlemanly conduct), Fernandez 90+5
Goal: Fernandez 90+4
Referee: Michael Oliver