Chelsea, Man City finish all square as top of EPL table tightens

Chelsea earned a rare result on the road against Man City on Saturday. Despite the hosts essentially dominating on the day, City could only manage to grab a point against their London rivals. Both sides scored just once each on the day.

Liverpool and Arsenal both put pressure on City ahead of their matchup with the Blues. The Reds started matchday 25 with a convincing 4-1 victory over Brentford away from home. Likewise, the Gunners also thumped Burnley 5-0 in Lancashire as well.

As a result of these two fixtures, City entered the Chelsea game third place in the Premier League table. Liverpool is now on 57 points, while Arsenal have 55. The reigning champions began the day with 52 points, but had multiple games in hand compared to the aforementioned duo though.

Chelsea, on the other hand, entered the weekend sitting 10th in the standing after enduring another tough campaign. A victory against the mighty Cityzens, however, would lift the Blues up to the eighth spot in the English top flight.

Chelsea weather early storm to take half-time lead over Man City

The hosts quite predictably controlled the game quite well in the opening stages on Saturday. Superstar striker Erling Haaland nearly put City ahead with a goal in the 12th minute. Despite the fact that the forward was in a great position in front of goal, he uncharacteristically headed the ball just over the bar.

Chelsea winger Raheem Sterling then had a decent chance of his own to score just a minute later. The England attacker ran free towards City’s goal, but ultimately sent a harmless low shot right at Ederson between the sticks.

The visitors then also had the best scoring chance of the opening 30 minutes through Nicolas Jackson.

Former City starlet Cole Palmer started the move by opening up the home defense with a wonderful through ball towards Sterling. The winger collected the pass and squared another ball to Jackson. The striker, however, failed to capitalize on his one-on-one chance versus Ederson.

While the duo missed out on glorious chances early in the game, Jackson and Sterling combined to score a goal just minutes from halftime.

The center forward raced towards goal and played in the winger with a clever low pass. Sterling gained possession, shifted the ball to his right foot, and struck a shot into the back of the net. It was the Englishman’s eighth total goal of the campaign.

City finally finds late goal to share the points on the day

Much like the first half, City started the second with a few solid scoring chances. Kevin De Bruyne first skimmed the roof of net from a free kick just a few minutes into the latter half. Haaland then sent a huge opportunity wide of the post on a counter attack moments later. On another day, the star striker could have had at least a brace by the 51st minute of the match.

The hosts then spent the next 30 minutes peppering Chelsea’s goalkeeper in search of an leveler. Haaland had two more good scoring chances in this timeframe. Versatile attacker Phil Foden also had a shot saved as well.

Nevertheless, it was defensive midfielder Rodri that eventually scored the equalizing goal for the club. The Spaniard pounced on a loose ball inside the box and sent a thunderous strike into the back of the net in the 83rd minute of the match.

While City remained committed to grabbing a late winner, the game eventually ended level at a goal each. The hosts took 32 total shots and had 71% possession during the match, but could not earn all three points. The result means that Liverpool keeps a two-point lead ahead of Arsenal in the Premier League standings.

Photo credit: IMAGO / PA Images