Chelsea trio prove point as Pochettino’s remarks haunt him in Man City thriller

In pictures: Chelsea v Man City

Chelsea fought back from a losing position three times against champions Manchester City to salvage a 4-4 draw after a sensational end to a thrilling encounter at Stamford Bridge. Erling Haaland scored twice for the visitors along with Manuel Akanji, but goals from Thiago Silva, Raheem Sterling and Nicolas Jackson underlined Mauricio Pochettino’s side’s fighting spirit. Rodri’s deflected effort looked to have snatched all three points, before Cole Palmer came back to stun his former club with a stoppage-time penalty.

Haaland’s penalty put the visitors in front before Silva headed home expertly from a corner on 29 minutes to score his first goal in 18 months. Chelsea then took advantage of an error from Josko Gvardiol with Sterling scoring against his former club, before Manuel Akanji levelled the game at 2-2 in first-half stoppage time to bring an end to a pulsating opening 45 minutes.

But only 90 seconds after the break, Haaland got his second with a fortuitous finish after bundling home from a Phil Foden cross. Some might have thought Chelsea were dead and buried, but Jackson made it four goals in six days after Ederson spilled Conor Gallagher’s long-range effort. That was until Rodri’s long-range effort was deflected in off Silva to give City a vital win in the rain.

Express Sport looks at the main talking points from one of the games of the season so far…

Pochettino let down after Haaland warning

Mauricio Pochettino could not have been clearer in his instructions about how to stop Erling Haaland from scoring or having an influence on the game when he spoke at his press conference on Friday. But even if his players listened, they couldn’t stop him.

“You need to run faster, concentrate, focus and try to anticipate him,” said the Blues boss. “You have to be clear in how you are going to defend in the box because he is tall. You need to jump before him. You need to teach people things but you also need them to feel it. You have to give them good tools.”

Marc Cucurella couldn’t keep him under wraps, although many would question the decision to award a penalty against the Spaniard. Then Axel Disasi lost track of the Norwegian in the box. Neither of his goals were especially memorable, but Haaland’s double proves once again that he will be ignored at the opposition’s peril. And Pochettino will be deeply unhappy with how his defenders failed to deal with him.

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Trio prove a point

City have made £87.5million from Chelsea over the past two summers after selling Raheem Sterling in 2022 and Cole Palmer this summer. For a while, that looked like shrewd business – at least in terms of Sterling – but there must be some wondering if offloading Palmer was the right call.

The 21-year-old has gone from warming the bench at the Etihad to becoming one of the first names on the Chelsea teamsheet. And he punished his former employers when he took the ball forward in the half space on the right and threaded a pass through that got Gvardiol entangled. The Croatian lost control of the ball, James pounced on the mistake and Sterling couldn’t miss from three yards out.

Both players led the press and caught City out in their own half on several occasions, with Sterling wreaking havoc with his barnstorming runs. City’s defenders looked scared to go near them – and Guardiola might well fear them too after stellar displays from the attacking pair. Then it was Nicolas Jackson’s turn to silence his doubters with some quick thinking in the box to score the sixth goal of this ridiculously entertaining game of football.

And then Palmer’s moment came after Armando Broja was taken out by Ruben Dias. With City fans waiting in the away end, he struck it past Ederson to net his fourth goal of the season and silence his former boss.

Set pieces crucial

Chelsea aren’t good enough yet to outclass City with their young side still trying to mould together. But there’s nothing to say they can’t beat them if they manage to outsmart them.

When the corner arrived just before the half-hour mark for Conor Gallagher, Chelsea knew exactly what to do. Their setup proved it, with Thiago Silva lurking behind Axel Disasi and Cole Palmer stationed on Haaland. The ball looked feeble at first but then Silva’s run to the front post caught everyone out as the 39-year-old nodded past his compatriot Ederson.

Then it was City’s turn. Foden went short and the ball was clipped in by Josko Gvardiol, with Akanji enjoying the freedom of London to head home past Robert Sanchez. They hadn’t been better than Chelsea in the first half, but a piece of ingenuity was enough to get them back on level terms even when they hadn’t been at their best.

VAR questions remain

Confusion reigned inside Stamford Bridge when referee Anthony Taylor pointed to the spot, leading all 11 members of the Chelsea team to surround the official. Marc Cucurella was adjudged to have fouled Erling Haaland and, instead of waiting for VAR to make the judgement, the referee made his own call. It was the wrong one.

Cucurella and Haaland were caught in a wrestling match at the back post, both pulling each other’s shirts, both nowhere near the ball. Haaland ran forward and took a rather suspicious fall to the ground, which looked contrived and unnatural. Even in this era of modern football, where video technology plays such a crucial part, it is unfathomable how the VAR officials could reach the incorrect conclusion again after the spate of recent major errors.

The incredulity of the Chelsea players was a big clue. Not even Haaland was expecting the penalty and Jamie Carragher described it as “very harsh”, yet Taylor’s decision stood. Thankfully, the game’s entertainment outweighed the controversy, but Chelsea will feel hard done by.

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