MANCHESTER — Chelsea snatched a dramatic late equaliser in potentially Calum McFarlane’s only game in charge as they held Manchester City to a 1-1 draw Sunday, just four days after parting company with Enzo Maresca.
Under-21s coach McFarlane was on the touchline at the Etihad Stadium after the club announced Maresca’s departure on New Year’s Day. Chelsea are expected to unveil Strasbourg coach Liam Rosenior as the Italian’s replacement before the trip to Fulham on Wednesday. And in potentially his only game as boss, McFarlane watched Enzo Fernández grab a 94th-minute goal to dent City’s title hopes.
Tijjani Reijnders gave Pep Guardiola’s side the lead just before half-time with a fine close-range finish. City restricted Chelsea to relatively few clear-cut chances throughout, but they were made to pay in injury time when Fernandez got on the end of a cross from the right to stab the ball past Gianluigi Donnarumma at the second attempt.
– Report: Chelsea snatch late draw at Man City
– Olley: Why Chelsea, Maresca parted ways
It’s a damaging result for City, who have now dropped points for the second game in a row to slip six behind Arsenal at the top of the table. — Dawson
Reijnders in form when City need it
The Dutchman has been in and out of the Man City first team since his summer move from Milan, but he showed again against Chelsea what a goalscoring threat he can be. He got 10 goals in Serie A last season — a good return for a central midfielder — and after netting his fifth in the Premier League against Chelsea, he’s on course to do the same again.
Reijnders started the season with a goal at Wolves, but he hasn’t always been in Guardiola’s starting XI. Back as a regular since mid-December, he’s found the net in three of his last four games.
The 27-year-old played off the left against Chelsea and looked dangerous from early on with runs from deep, which were hard to pick up. He’s likened himself to Kevin De Bruyne in the past, but in that respect at least, he’s far more like Ilkay Gündogan.
If he can keep scoring crucial goals and reach double figures before the end of the season, it will help take some of the responsibility off Haaland to be City’s sole source. — Dawson
McFarlane gets a result against Guardiola
On Sunday, Etihad Stadium arguably witnessed the greatest managerial mismatch in Premier League history. Pep Guardiola has won 12 league title in three different countries in addition to three Champions Leagues, 16 domestic cups and is widely credited as the finest football mind of his generation. Chelsea Under 21s boss Calum McFarlane, meanwhile, was on the way to a light show in Windsor with his family when he got the call to take charge of Chelsea for this match, following the sudden departure of head coach Enzo Maresca on Thursday.
McFarlane, 40, made the point beforehand that Chelsea’s model dictates the under-21s play a similar style to the first team, so there was no surprise Chelsea were not radically different in style or shape. However, they were notably conservative out of possession, falling into a back five shape deep on the edge of their own box for long periods.
Despite a shaky opening period, both McFarlane and Chelsea grew in confidence in the second half. Substitute Liam Delap’s 68th-minute burst forward, denied by an apparent handball, was the trigger for McFarlane to become more animated, and he had the last laugh when Fernandez equalised. Guardiola gave McFarlane a warm embrace at full-time — he may not have known him before kickoff, but Guardiola is unlikely to forget him now after a hugely damaging result for City.
McFarlane even had the honour of his name being sung by the Chelsea fans as the team went to acknowledge their travelling support at full time. — Olley
Rodri passes his test
At this point — nearly 18 months after his knee ligament injury — the biggest thing for Rodri is coming through a game unscathed.
There were a couple of nervous moments as he made his first City start for three months. He briefly went down after a challenge from Reece James midway through the first half, and was on the end of an even heavier one in the second half. The midfielder looked in some pain after yet another challenge from James and for a while, there was some concern on the City bench.
It’s been nearly 18 months since his knee ligament injury and he’s already had so many set-backs and understandably, he’s not yet at his best after so long on the sidelines. Against Chelsea, there were moments when he looked rusty, but also the usual clever positioning and sharp passing.
His understudy, Nico González, has made a step up this season, but Guardiola will know that he needs Rodri fully fit if City are going to chase down Arsenal at the top of the table. After playing 90 minutes, it will be a big positive if he’s able to be in the squad which faces Brighton on Wednesday. — Dawson
Gvardiol injury a blow for City
As much as Rodri was a positive for City, losing Josko Gvardiol for any length of time would be a massive blow.
The Croatian defender was forced off after a challenge with Malo Gusto in the second half. He was limping heavily as he came off, and ultimately needed help from James and a member of City’s medical team.
Gvardiol was described as «a warrior» by Guardiola last season because he kept making himself available when the squad were going through an injury crisis. Now he needs the 23-year-old back as quickly as possible because if he’s sidelined for a while, it will leave Guardiola with problems in the centre of his defence.
John Stones is injured and hasn’t started a league game since October, while Nathan Aké had had issues staying fit, picking up a knock of his own in the goalless draw with Sunderland last time out. Abdukodir Khusanov replaced Gvardiol on Sunday, but there are question marks about whether he’s ready for a prolonged run in the team, particularly at centre-back.
Problems in defence could be mounting for Guardiola after Rúben Dias was substituted late on and Nico O’Reilly ended the game holding his hamstring. It’s a bad sign for the City boss that his team looked in relative control before his makeshift defence conceded late on. — Dawson
Chelsea’s substitutions pay off — whoever was dictating them
Sources have told ESPN that one of Maresca’s major gripes was what he felt became undue influence from Chelsea’s medical staff in team selection and the use of players. Sources added that there was a feeling Maresca sometimes disregarded that advice and ignored those instructions, particularly relating to player load where he would be told specific individuals could only play for 45 minutes, an hour or 75 minutes in a game.
It therefore felt worthy of note that McFarlane’s only three changes here took place at half-time — Estevao Willian replaced by Andrey Santos — and then on 62 minutes, as Delap and Jorrel Hato were introduced for João Pedro and Josh Acheampong. Had Cole Palmer come off on 75 minutes, that would have surely indicated a hat-trick for the medical team, but in fairness to Chelsea and McFarlane, they improved notably after the break. Delap, in particular, proved much more of a handful for City than Pedro, while Santos helped even up the midfield battle.
McFarlane switched full-backs Acheampong and Malo Gusto at the interval to nullify City’s threat in wide areas, and he also moved Fernandez into a No.10 position. It all paid off at the other end, too. Gusto, operating on the right, crossed and Fernandez equalised in the fourth minute of added time. It was a goal that would not have happened had those changes not been made. — Olley
