MANCHESTER – Erling Haaland pushed aside a television camera after the final whistle, his frustration spilling over. It was the first time that he had drawn a blank for Manchester City despite having nine attempts as the hosts were held 1-1 by Chelsea on Feb 17.
The Premier League champions racked up 31 shots in all, but only one – a late effort from Rodri – went into the net, cancelling out Raheem Sterling’s 42nd-minute opener as City avoided their first home loss in 15 months.
City manager Pep Guardiola admitted that they had a below-par first half, adding: “It’s Chelsea. I know they are so young, but they are a fantastic team and against those teams you have to perform for 95 minutes.
“We didn’t perform to our level in the first half.”
City remain third in the table on 53 points, four behind leaders Liverpool and two adrift of Arsenal, but with a game in hand on both. They can move to second with victory on Feb 20 over visiting Brentford, who were the last team to beat Guardiola’s men at the Etihad Stadium in November 2022.
City’s decision to park in Chelsea’s half proved costly, as Nicolas Jackson’s deft flick began a counter-attack in the 42nd minute. He sent a perfect pass behind the defence to Sterling, who rounded City defender Kyle Walker and curled the ball past goalkeeper Ederson to score against his former team.
Rodri felt that they should have defended better after losing possession. He told Sky Sports: “We conceded another easy goal. We knew about their counter-attacks and fast players, but we have to defend the counter-attack better. From there, it’s always more difficult to come back.”
After City missed numerous chances, Rodri finally equalised in the 83rd minute. Walker’s effort was blocked and went into the path of the Spanish midfielder, who fired in a thunderous shot that deflected into the net via Trevoh Chalobah.
Chelsea have now taken points off City both home and away this season.
Despite City’s 31 shots to the visitors’ nine, only five were on target, with Haaland sending two headers over the bar before hitting a volley just wide. His best chance was a late unmarked close-range header he sent over the bar before burying his head in disbelief.
After the final whistle, Haaland shoved away a live TV camera which was focusing on the striker's face.
The Norwegian, who rewrote the scoring record books in his Premier League debut season in 2022-23, continued his prolific form before a broken foot sidelined him for nearly two months.
He scored twice in City’s 2-0 win over Everton in the previous weekend to reclaim sole possession of the league’s scoring lead with 16 goals, but could not find the target against the Blues.
“If Haaland put away the chances, we’re not even talking about this,” former City player Micah Richards said on Sky Sports.
But both Richards and Guardiola are not overly concerned about Haaland’s barren outing.
“I never worry about Haaland, his mentality is completely different to most strikers in world football. He always gets an opportunity,” Richards added.
“He misses a lot of chances... if he wasn’t getting these chances, that’s when I would be worried.”
Guardiola has backed the 23-year-old to bounce back swiftly, saying: “Nine shots is a good stat... I played 11 years as a professional and I scored 11 goals, so I cannot give him too much advice. Next day, he will score.”
Chelsea remain 10th and are still six points behind the top six, but Argentinian manager Mauricio Pochettino is buoyed by their showing as he eyes his first trophy in English football when they meet an injury-hit Liverpool in the League Cup final on Feb 25.
He said: “I told the players I feel so proud. In the last three games, we’ve started to create a very good spirit. We conceded only one chance – against a team like Manchester City who, for me, are the best team in the world.
“We need to feel that it is possible to beat Liverpool. I think we are going to play the second-best team in the world. I think belief is the most important thing.
“Today was a really good game to show we are improving.”
REUTERS, AFP
