Man City 1-1 Chelsea: Deadlock at the Etihad after managerless Chelsea snatch last-minute equaliser

Henry Gill
3 days ago
2 min read

In a dramatic late twist at the Etihad Stadium, Manchester City were pegged back by Chelsea in stoppage time thanks to the relentless Enzo Fernandez, who poked home the loose ball from close range past

Gianluigi Donnarumma, sending the thousands of travelling Chelsea fans into a state of absolute jubilance.

With the recent departure of Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca and plans for protests outside of Stamford Bridge later this month, it seemed that this game was one riding on hope rather than expectation for Chelsea fans.

Chelsea Under-21s coach Calum MacFarlane was given the nod to take charge whilst the Blues search for a new permanent head coach. After a fairly disjointed opening half an hour, Man City started to find their inevitable rhythm, with chances from Haaland and Foden coming close.

Despite constant City pressure, Chelsea were keeping them at bay fairly comfortably, until a moment of magic from new signing Tijjani Reijnders put City 1-0 up, as he rolled away from Badiashille and

thumped the ball past the outstretched Jorgensen into the roof of the net. Half-time: Man City 1-0 Chelsea.

A handful of second half substitutions sparked Chelsea into life (despite some grumbling in the away end as it was confirmed Estêvão was to be removed), however it seemed to be too little too late, as Pedro Neto and Cole Palmer squandered 2 big chances. Even still, MacFarlane’s side dug deep in the dying embers, and after a smart bit of skill and dangerous cross from Gusto rolled into the path of Enzo

Fernandez, the Argentinian managed to poke home the rebound after his first attempt was smothered by Donnarumma, sending the visiting support into elation.

The result keeps City in second place, but just the one point at home means the gap between City and the League favourites Arsenal has widened to six. Brighton host Man City on Wednesday and Chelsea

travel just 1.3 miles through South West London to Craven Cottage, where Fulham will be keen to stamp on another one of the big six’s egos after a goal-of-the-season contender from Harrison Reed took

two crucial points off Liverpool.

Chelsea FC Player Ratings:

Starting XI:

F. Jorgensen - 6.4/10

M. Gusto - 7.9/10

T. Chalobah - 7.3/10

B. Badiashille - 6.2/10

J. Acheampong - 7.0/10

R. James - 8.3/10

E. Fernandez - 8.5/10

P. Neto - 3.7/10

C. Palmer - 5.3/10