Rodri’s late equaliser salvaged a point for the champions, but it was a day to forget for Erling Haaland. We provide all the key Manchester City vs Chelsea stats after Saturday’s entertaining draw.
Manchester City’s Mr. Reliable, Rodri, came good once again to rescue a 1-1 draw at home to Chelsea after Erling Haaland’s nightmare in front of goal saw their Premier League title defence suffer a minor blow.
Pep Guardiola’s men looked to be heading for a surprise defeat after Raheem Sterling’s well-worked opener late in the first half went unanswered for a long time, mostly due to Haaland proving uncharacteristically wasteful in front of goal.
The Norwegian recorded nine shots in the match, the joint most he’s ever attempted in a single game for City in any competition, and he failed to score with a single one of them. When he headed what appeared to be a routine chance over in the 78th minute, Chelsea might’ve started wondering if it truly was their day.
But Rodri’s opportunistic left-footed drive five minutes later went in off Trevoh Chalobah to preserve City’s 23-match unbeaten home league run. Clearly the champions will be left considering this as two points dropped, however, considering the earlier victories on Saturday for Liverpool and Arsenal.
Anyone expecting a repeat of the bonkers 4-4 goal-fest these two teams treated us to earlier in the season would have realised quite early on that they needed to temper those expectations.
Proceedings were particularly cagey during the first 20 minutes or so, with Chelsea generally doing a good job of restricting City’s flow of chances while threatening to be a danger on the break themselves.
Such an instance brought the game’s first clear-cut opportunity with 22 minutes played. Malo Gusto broke clear on the right flank and squared into the box for Nicolas Jackson, but the pass was slightly behind the Chelsea forward and his eventual effort was smothered by Ederson.
Sterling was presented with a similar opportunity soon after, though a poor touch again allowed Ederson to pounce and curb the danger.
They weren’t warnings heeded by City. There was an air of predictability as Chelsea opened the scoring just before half-time, this time capitalising on the counter.
Jackson turned provider, his pass across from the right far better than Gusto’s a little earlier, and Sterling did well to jink inside Kyle Walker before placing beyond Ederson for his second goal against his former team this season.
It was the first time Chelsea had led away to City at half-time since February 2014, but Pochettino will have been acutely aware they couldn’t afford to get carried away; City have made a habit of coming from behind over the past couple of months.
They went into this game having gained 17 points from losing positions this term, second only to Liverpool (19). City chances would arrive.
Few would’ve expected them to be so profligate, though. Haaland swiped at a close-range volley when seemingly destined to make the net bulge, while Axel Disasi was frequently in the right place at the right time, remarkably tallying six more clearances (16) than anyone else on the pitch.
Disasi’s busyness was a necessity in the face of City’s intense pressure, as he also got a crucial touch on a Haaland shot that helped Djordje Petrovic make an important save when an equaliser looked likely.
Chelsea weren’t completely blunt going forward. Sterling’s close-range shot would have made it 2-0 were it not for Ederson, who’d only made more saves (five) in one league game this season. But all the control belonged to City in their efforts to supply a frustrated Haaland.
The Norwegian just could not find a way past Petrovic. While the goalkeeper’s performance warrants praise, Haaland will rue his own finishing in what was probably one of the most frustrating games of his career.
Haaland’s glaring miss as the game entered the latter stages always had the potential to be costly. Rodri did at least fire home to ensure City took something from the game.
But they’ll be left wondering how they – or more specifically, Haaland – didn’t win this match.
Manchester City vs Chelsea Stats Centre
Our live Opta match centre delivers you all of the Manchester City vs Chelsea stats ahead of this Premier League game at the Etihad Stadium.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own analysis after the game.
Below the match centre you’ll find the post-match Opta facts from the game as well.
Manchester City 1-1 Chelsea Stats: Post-Match Opta Facts
- Manchester City are unbeaten in their last 23 Premier League games at the Etihad Stadium (W18 D5), drawing four of their last seven. Indeed, they’ve only lost one of their last seven home league games when conceding the opening goal (W4 D2).
- This is Chelsea’s first draw in the Premier League since November 2023, which also came against Manchester City (4-4), winning six and drawing six times each before today. In fact, the Blues are winless the last two times they’ve scored first in the top-flight, following a 4-2 defeat to Wolves earlier this month.
- Only Liverpool (19) have gained more points from losing positions in the Premier League this season than Manchester City (18), which is their most in a top-flight campaign since 1993-94 (20).
- Chelsea are without a clean sheet in their last 11 Premier League games against Manchester City, only against Blackburn Rovers in February 1999 (13 games) and against Arsenal in December 2004 (12 games) have they endured longer such runs in the competition.
- Raheem Sterling has as many goals (6) and goal involvements (9) this Premier League season for Chelsea as he registered in his first campaign in 2022-23. Indeed, he’s also the first player in the competition to score home and away against Manchester City having previously played for them.
- Rodri’s goal was his 20th in the Premier League, while he’s been involved in nine goals in 2023-24 (6 goals, 3 assists), his joint-most in a single season in the competition for Manchester City (also 9 in 2021-22).
- Erling Haaland had nine shots and an xG total of 1.71 against Chelsea, his most for both without scoring in a single game for Manchester City in all competitions.
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