Manchester City fell further behind against Premier League leaders Arsenal after Enzo Fernandes saved them in the second half of a 1-1 draw with a coachless Chelsea at a snowy Etihad Stadium.
City’s somewhat subdued performance came back to life in the first half when Tijani Lijnders fired a powerful shot into the roof of the net, scoring his sixth league goal of the season, and City were on track to close the gap on the Gunners to four points.
However, there was a turnaround in stoppage time, raising concerns for the tenacious visitors who had already converted enough chances through Pedro Neto and Liam Delap and were showing more ambition. Late in stoppage time, Maro Gusto pulled wide and charged towards a cross position, and the ball eventually found its way to Fernandes, who beat Gianluigi Donnarumma for his third goal.
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Tijani Lijnders puts Manchester City ahead against Chelsea
Man City have moved up to second place ahead of Aston Villa, but back-to-back draws have left them six points behind Arsenal and they have only scored one goal from a total of 3.23 xG.
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Enzo Fernandes stuns Manchester City with a last-gasp equalizer!
Another negative for a disgruntled Josep Guardiola will be the growing injury list. Defensive duo Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias were added to the mix, while the returning Rodri played 90 minutes for the first time since September to alleviate the midfield deficit.
Pep said of Gubardiol and Dias: “They don’t look good.” “If we had a full squad we could compete and rotate, but that’s the situation right now.”City currently only have four fit senior defenders.
Josko Gvardiol injured in the second half
Chelsea, on the other hand, have won just one of their last eight games following the departure of Enzo Maresca, but they still manage to finish in the top four with just one point. The next new manager, who has been heavily rumored to be in contact with Strasbourg manager Liam Rosenior, will likely need to build on that.
Title pendulum swings Arsenal’s way
Man City are six points behind Arsenal in the race for the Premier League title.
Sky Sports’ Lewis Jones said:
“It’s always interesting to look at bookmaker odds for a title after a swing like this.
“Arsenal are currently 4/11 (73 per cent chance) from winning the Premier League, which is the shortest price they have to pay to win the title this season, with Man City at 7/2 and Aston Villa at 33/1.
“Arsenal is the only one who can stop Arsenal now, right?”
Pep worried about rising injuries
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Speaking after Manchester City’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea, manager Pep Guardiola said the injury situations of Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol “do not look good” and said he did not know whether that meant the club would enter the transfer market in search of replacements.
Man City manager Josep Guardiola:
“It doesn’t look good, but we’ll know in a few days.
“That’s the way it is. If we had a full team, we could compete and rotate, but that’s the situation right now.
“We can’t change that. Of course there are concerns. Did you see the bench today? We have three academy players and there will be more from now on. We don’t have players, that’s the truth.”
Will the injury change January transfer plans? “I don’t think so. But let’s see. Ruben and Josko are big losses.”
Will we have a new manager by Monday?
Chelsea interim manager Callum MacFarlane:
“When I first took over, I was told I was going to the Man City game and the first thing I was told was that the new manager could arrive on Monday.
“It’s Sunday now. We’ve been concentrating only on the game. As far as I know, a new manager will be taking over soon and I will be leading the team until he takes over.”
On the character of Chelsea’s players: “This is a good opportunity to talk about the players. This is not an easy task. There are a lot of changes taking place. Enzo (Maresca) has had incredible success with this group, but some people were shocked by his decision.
“The character that Reece (James), Tosin and Enzo (Fernandez) showed really brought the group together. Everyone thought we came here to lose, but no one gave us a chance. We knew this group had talent and I can’t praise them enough.”
