Manchester City Survive Chelsea Scare At Etihad Stadium

It was almost a stunning win for Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium as coach Mauricio Pochettino enjoyed a slim lead for most of the league game earlier today, February 17.

Chelsea’s last two games before they met with the reigning Premier League champions, Manchester City, ended in wins, 1-3 against Aston Villa in the FA Cup, and 1-3 against Crystal Palace in the Premier League.

Hence, coach Pochettino set up his team to build on those successes and they indeed did so in Grand style despite not going back to Stamford Bridge with the maximum three points.

From the start of the game, the Blues had just a 14 percent chance of beating coach Pep Guardiola and his boys at the Etihad Stadium but Chelsea found a way of turning that around in the first 45 minutes.

Former Manchester City player, Raheem Sterling grabbed the match opener in the 42nd minute after a beautiful break launched by another former City player Cole Palmer.

Nicolas Jackson who had earlier missed a glorious chance to put the Blues ahead squared the ball beautifully to Sterling who cut back on Kyle Walker to score a spectacle of a goal.

In the second half of the game, Manchester City came out more and became more purposeful in their attacking play.

The usual suspect, Erling Haaland had a couple of great opportunities to head home the equaliser but missed all his attempts.

It wasn’t until in the 83rd minute that coach Guardiola and his boys finally broke the defense of Chelsea thanks to Rodri’s shot around the edge of the penalty box.

Despite a series of goalscoring opportunities from both sides, especially from the hosts, the game ended 1-1 to a relive to Porchetino and a setback to City’s hope of retaining the Premier League title.

With the 1-1 draw, Manchester City are third with 53 points in 24 games with a game in hand. They are four points below first-placed Liverpool who have played a game more than City.

As for Chelsea, the draw didn’t change their position in the table as they are still seated in the 10th spot with 35 points in 25 games.