The Premier League’s 25th matchweek was the scene for the clash between hosts Manchester City and Chelsea.
So far this season Pep Guardiola’s men haven’t been able to maintain their usual sky-high standards, sitting in third place coming into the game. Chelsea’s troubles are much severe though, in tenth place with just 34 points from 24 games, having conceded 40 goals – the highest amount in their history.
Even though it’s almost impossible to write off a team managed by Mauricio Pochettino in any circumstances, the odds favour the Argentinian’s side very rarely these days. The Blues were only able to win two of their last eight games at the Etihad. They lost the other six and failed to score in five of them, while keeping only one clean sheet in their last 19 meetings with City: way back in 2018 under Maurizio Sarri.
Meanwhile City are unbeaten in their last 22 games at their home ground, winning 18 and drawing only four. Only Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool has a longer active streak with 24 games.
Pep Guardiola also has the honour of handing the most defeats to Mauricio Pochettino, winning thirteen times against the Argentinian. However, Pochettino has beaten Guardiola with three different clubs – Espanyol, Tottenham Hotspur and Paris Saint-Germain – and a win would see him match Jose Mourinho’s record of four.
Guardiola opted to make three changes to his line-up from the Cityzens’ mid-week European victory against FC Copenhagen. Jack Grealish’s injury kept him out of this game, as he was replaced by Jeremy Doku, and Julian Alvarez and Manuel Akanji were named in the starting line-up at the expense of Bernardo Silva and John Stones.
Thiago Silva’s injury in last week’s fixture forced Pochettino to name Levi Colwill in his place and Noni Madueke made way for former City man Raheem Sterling.
The game started in a neutral fashion, where two teams showed only glimpses of their plans. Manchester City tried to build from deep with a patient approach as usual. With Akanji deputising the duties of John Stones, a 3-2-5 formation was obvious on the pitch.
As no team on the planet would dare to just let Guardiola’s men do as they pleased, Pochettino felt obliged to try to come up with something that disrupts the way City plays. In this case, Conor Gallagher pushed higher up to form a duo with Nicolas Jackson when Chelsea were without the ball. The duo shared duties; while Jackson was mainly charged to pressure the back line of City, Gallagher positioned himself with one sole duty: keeping Rodri from getting the ball and orchestrating play.
On the left flank, Cole Palmer stepped up from time to time to prevent Nathan Ake from progressing the ball unchallenged, and constantly tracked back to help Malo Gusto with the challenge of handling Jeremy Doku. Yet on the other side of the pitch a different plan was in place: Pochettino must have thought the threat that the duo of Kyle Walker and Phil Foden posed was not as severe as Doku’s, because, Sterling was frequently seen positioned more centrally, aiming to restrict Akanji’s freedom with and without the ball.
Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo played man to man with Kevin de Bruyne and Julian Alvarez, which allowed the duo of Axel Disasi and Colwill to not get stretched, instead focussing on the task of controlling Erling Haaland.
When they won possession, Chelsea had the clear intent of getting the ball to City’s box. In the moments in which they were counter-pressed by Guardiola’s men, Fernandez and Caicedo acted as one touch outlets for Chelsea’s wing-backs to surge forward. Walker’s excellent ability to recover in transition situations practically nullified the threat of Ben Chilwell, but on the other side of the pitch Malo Gusto thrived.
When Chelsea’s midfielders were allowed free time with the ball, they found Jackson and Sterling’s line-breaking runs with precise passes in behind the City backline.
They were able to create significant chances through that formula. In one instance, Palmer moved close to the middle of the pitch, dragging Ake with him, which allowed Gusto space out wide. His forward run was rewarded with a pinpoint through ball by Palmer, and Gusto was swift to spot Jackson at the end of a brilliant counter-attacking move, yet Jackson’s first touch let him down and he rolled the ball right into Ederson’s arms.
City allowed a similar scenario to occur once again and this time the punishment fit the crime. A fantastic counter-attacking move, which was started by Jackson’s brilliant back-heel flick to Palmer, was finished off by Sterling with class, putting Chelsea one ahead just ahead of the half-time break.
The second half also started with swings in the dynamics of play. Chelsea almost doubled their lead with a copy of their first goal: Palmer brilliantly nutmegged Alvarez, then released Gusto from the right flank, but Sterling couldn’t finish Gusto’s low cross, as Ederson was able to save the shot.
After that, City started to pile on the pressure. Chelsea were beaten in wide areas repeatedly. As their lines were stretched to cover up those holes, City’s number eights made those trademark penetrating runs into Chelsea’s final third. It took several last ditch clearances from Disasi to keep Chelsea in front, and Haaland not having one of his sharper days in front of the goal really helped The Blues.
Pochettino’s worries became real in the 83rd minute though. While City were looking for an opening, Gallagher was caught up front, pressuring City’s left flank.
After Chelsea’s lines were scattered and penetrated, Gallagher tried to recover, yet he couldn’t get back in time to stop Rodri.
Then, as he has now done on numerous occasions, the Spaniard got City out of trouble and fired one home. The rebound of Walker’s volley fell to Rodri and his shot ricocheted off of substitute Chalobah, past Djordje Petrovic.
The rest of the game was rather dull in terms of chances as the sides settled for a draw. Even though Chelsea weren’t able to hold onto their lead in a fashion that must have rattled Pochettino deeply, the Argentinian was probably the happier of the managers at the end of the game.
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