Man City hosted Chelsea in the last game Premier League game on Sunday (January 4) and the first of the post-Enzo Maresca era. Like the Liverpool and Tottenham games before, it ended in a dramatic stalemate.
Calum McFarlane made his senior managerial debut against one of the best and most experienced the game has ever seen and held his own. City’s early domination paid off when Tijjani Reijnders scored just before half time.
Chelsea were happy to let Guardiola’s side have the ball and hit them on the counter. Pedro Neto had an incredible chance to level things shortly after the break, but as we entered added time, it was starting to look like it would be nothing more than a valiant defeat.
Enzo Fernandes wasn’t going to take it lying down, however, and the midfielder made a wonderful box crashing run to get on the end of Malo Gusto’s low cross.
Rodri back to his best
This was the type of performance that won Rodri the 2024 Ballon d’Or. The defensive midfielder ran the show for Man City today, and with all the recent injury issues he’s had, it’s been a long time coming.
Dictating play like he loves to do, Rodri created the most chances in the game (4), won the most duels (9), had an 88% pass accuracy rate, and made ten passes into the final third. He did exactly what Guardiola would have expected him to do.
This was also the first full 90 minutes he’s managed to play since City’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal back at the end of September. A second consecutive draw has given Arsenal some breathing room, but a resurgent Rodri could be a difference maker.
Cole Palmer still looking sluggish
Speaking of players that completed their first 90 minutes for some time, Palmer just played a full Premier League game for the first time since Chelsea’s 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace in their first game of the season.
Chants of ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’ echoed around Stamford Bridge when Maresca brough him off in the 2-2 draw with Bournemouth, but in hindsight, it was probably wise. Palmer wasn’t quite at the races today.
The usually talismanic playmaker failed to create a single chance, had just one shot that was way off target, had two touches in the opposition box, and uncharacteristically lashed at a chance that could have been the equaliser just before Fernandez spared his blushes.
Palmer will soon be playing under his third manager since joining Chelsea, we’ll see how likely successor Liam Rosenior manages his minutes.
Defensive injury crisis for Man City?
It’s a bad time to be a Man City centre back. Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol both went off injured today and will join John Stones on the physio’s table. The Englishman is expected to return fairly soon, so it may not be for long.
We don’t yet know the extent of their injuries, and Guardiola isn’t known for giving too much away in that regard. Gvardiol’s did look a little worse, needing assistance from Chelsea Reece James and a member of City’s medical team to get off the pitch.
With Man City set to face Brighton in three days, Guardiola could be without his three best centre backs, meaning he could be forced to play Nathan Ake, who hasn’t had many minutes, and a relatively inexperienced Abdukodir Khusanov. Not what you want as you chase a title.