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True to his word, Mauricio Pochettino prepared Chelsea to (try to) go toe-to-toe with the champions, and for the first 45 minutes that plan worked wonders.
The teams traded half-chances early on, then traded big missed chances with Erling Haaland and Nicolas Jackson both guilty of extreme waste.
But Chelsea continued to threaten and after Raheem Sterling failed to convert a 1v1, they made no mistake just before the break as Chelsea found ground on a counter-attack.
It was another counterattack early in the second half that should have resulted in Chelsea’s second, but Ederson made a tremendous double save on Sterling and Chilwell, and that finally galvanized City into real action.
The locals besieged Chelsea’s defensive structure. A succession of half-chances and great chances followed, and Haaland missed another absolute sitter in the 78th minute.
Meanwhile, Chelsea were almost equally wasteful on the counter-attack, with multiple missed opportunities.
We added an extra defender, then an extra midfielder, but eventually the inevitable happened. Rodri equalized after a crazy fight in the 82nd… but Chelsea were able to hold on from there, and even survived a silly VAR check in the final seconds.
Carefree.
- Two changes from the last game: Colwill replacing the injured Thiago Silva and Sterling replacing Noni Madueke.
- Welcome back, Trevoh Chalobah: Chelsea in a back five for the last 20+ (Chalobah-Disasi-Colwill from right to left)
- Imagine booing a young player (Palmer) who left your team because you didn’t give him opportunities.
- Coming soon: League Cup final against Liverpool at Wembley on Sunday
- KTBFFH