In five years time, you’ll be reading articles about a match that took place this weekend. “On this day in 2023…” they’ll trumpet, “Chelsea and Manchester City played out an eight-goal thriller at Stamford Bridge”. Sunday’s 4-4 draw between the two sides had so many of the classic ingredients required for Premier League Years immortality in the future. Goals galore, penalties, players haunting their former teams, a late equaliser and a backdrop of political chaos in the country allowing for one of those much-memed segues into a “Meanwhile, in west London…” intro.
It’s nice to have a new entry to the canon. Man cannot live on double helpings of Liverpool 4 Newcastle 3 alone. We can all have a bit of time off from Patrick Vieira and Roy Keane’s tunnel histrionics, too. We now have a thoroughly modern classic to sink our teeth into.
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Just don’t expect the same breezy outlook on the game from City boss Pep Guardiola. A manager who thrives on control, he would not have enjoyed seeing his usually-disciplined team throw away a 4-3 lead deep into injury time. They may still top the table, but this was a timely reminder the Cityzens are human. That a team who has perfected dominant control of games to such a point that they won the treble last season can still be pulled into the whirling dervish of chaos.
However, it does say a lot about Guardiola and City that they can ship four goals in a game and still come out with a point. Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers snuck past them 1-0 and 2-1 respectively this season. But yesterday showed that if you get into a firefight with this team, it is nigh-on impossible to outscore them.
Chelsea did a superb job of unsettling City though. They were disruptive, relentless and strong-willed. Mauricio Pochettino’s Blues were everything they weren’t last season, or at the start of this campaign. But as noted last week, the Argentine seems to be getting a tune out of this beleaguered team. Defeat to Bournemouth aside, draws with last season’s top two in City and Arsenal plus a 4-1 drubbing of Tottenham Hotspur last week bode well.
Nicolas Jackson has scored four goals over the last two games, half of Chelsea’s eight-goal output. For a long time, this club has struggled to bed in a striker. Romelu Lukaku, Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang and Timo Werner are just the three most recent failures in a wretched history.
Jackson initially looked a long-shot to fill the void. While packed with potential, he had played just 35 games of top flight league football before joining in the summer. Jackson scored 12 goals in those La Liga outings for Villarreal, but there was little to suggest he’d hit the ground running at Stamford Bridge. Indeed, his start was slow as he felt his way into the league. But six goals from 11 games in total is a fine return. His instinctive finish against City showed a ruthless streak Chelsea forwards have lacked in recent years. At the age of 22, Jackson should only get better.
The other standouts on Sunday were two players who are very familiar to City fans. Raheem Sterling and Cole Palmer both got on the scoresheet for Chelsea, having once lit up the Etihad in a paler shade of blue.
Sterling put Chelsea ahead for the first time in the match, though the 2-1 scoreline only lasted ten minutes before Erling Haaland redressed the balance. But the England man acquitted himself brilliantly against the team who cut him loose in summer 2022. Guardiola likely doesn’t regret letting Sterling go considering his trophy haul since, but the forward probably enjoyed reminding his ex-boss what he was missing.
Cole Palmer ultimately settled the game, cooly slotting home an injury time penalty to end matters at 4-4. This could be a sale Guardiola does come to regret long-term. Palmer was highly thought of at the Etihad, with the England under-21 international seeming like a lock to excel for club and country. But the 21-year-old wanted to play regular football and Chelsea were interested. The west London club have made it something of a policy to acquire young talents with high potential and Palmer certainly fits the bill. His composed performances have already marked him out as a future superstar. Guardiola doesn’t do regrets, but this may not be the last time Cole comes back to haunt his former employers.
Both clubs can take something from this chaotic 4-4 draw. Chelsea are continuing to show the green shoots of recovery after nearly a season-and-a-half of slump. City demonstrated that even on a bad day, they are very difficult to keep down. But, in that most cliched of ways, the real winner on Sunday was the fans. They are going to be talking about this one for a very long time.
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject To Change
