Match Report: Chelsea 4 - 4 Manchester City

What. A. Game.

Chelsea and Manchester City played out an all time Premier League classic with a pulsating 4-4 draw at Stamford Bridge. And it was former Man City players Raheem Sterling and Cole Palmer who played crucial roles in breaking City hearts.

Chelsea started the game well but it was City who struck the first blow. Referee Anthony Taylor continued his one man quest to become the least popular person in Fulham when he awarded a controversial 25th minute penalty. Marc Cucurella was adjudged to have held back City striker Erling Haaland, who duly dispatched his spot kick.

It took Chelsea just three minutes to respond. Thiago Silva glanced in Conor Gallagher's corner at the near post to bring the Blues level.

The 37th minute and Chelsea completed the turn around. Reece James squared the ball across the box from the right for Raheem Sterling to tap in at the back post.

The euphoria of leading the European Champions couldn't last though. Manuel Akanji found himself unmarked in the penalty area to head in City's equaliser from a corner.

The second half started at the same breakneck speed and it took City just two minutes to get themselves ahead. A goal similar to Chelsea's second, this time it was Haaland rolling the ball in at the back post.

Chelsea weren't done though and got their second equaliser on 67 minutes. City keeper Ederson could only palm Gallagher's effort into the path of Nicolas Jackson who scored from the rebound, his fourth goal in a week.

In the final few minutes, the game seemed to be just petering out for the first time until Rodri's effort from outside the box took a massive deflection off Thiago Silva to put the Manchester club 4-3 ahead.

A loss would have been harsh on Chelsea, who had put so much into the game and were determined not to let it happen. So in injury time, substitute Armando Broja collected the ball in the box but was brought down with a reckless challenge by Ruben Diaz to give Chelsea a penalty of their own.

So it was that Cole Palmer (a City player just a few short months ago and could have already scored in the game but for a great save from Ederson), stepped up to score his fourth penalty for Chelsea and rescue the point. How Pep Guardiola must regret letting him go now.

It was a game neither side deserved to lose so a draw was probably a fair result. Chelsea hadn't scored against City since Kai Havertz goal in the 2021 Champions League final so four in one game was quite unexpected.

With eight goals in their last two games, is it too early to hope Chelsea's goal scoring troubles are over? Chelsea seem to prefer playing the big teams, its the smaller sides who sit deep that seem to be Chelsea's real problem to break down.

But that's a problem for another day, for now we can enjoy having been treated to an absolute classic.

Line-up: Sanchez, James (Gusto 64'), Disasi, Silva, Cucurella, Caicedo (Broja 90'), Fernandez (Mudryk 64'), Palmer, Gallagher, Sterling, Jackson (Ugochukwu 96')

Unused Subs: Badiashile, Madueke, Petrovic, Maatsen, Matos

Match Report: Tottenham Hotspur 1 - 4 Chelsea

 

Five goals scored, four disallowed, three for Nicolas Jackson and two red cards all added up to one hell of a London derby.

The craziness started in just the 6th minute when Dejan Kulusevski's deflected effort put Spurs ahead. And that was as good as it got for Tottenham on the night.

A few minutes later, Brennan Johnson thought he had put Spurs 2-0 up but he was ruled just offside by VAR. A few minutes later, Raheem Sterling thought he had equalised for Chelsea but VAR again intervened and disallowed for handball.

30 minutes in and Chelsea again thought they had equalised when Moises Caicedo put the ball in from the edge of the box but this time it was Nicolas Jackson who was adjudged to have been offside. However, Chelsea did gain a penalty for a foul by Christian Romero in the build-up on Enzo Fernandez. Romero was red carded for the challenge but there can be no sympathy as he could have been sent off a few minutes earlier for a kick-out on Levi Colwill and his challenge on Fernandez was high.

Cole Palmer eventually stepped up to equalise for Chelsea from the spot.

Second half started much as the first had ended with Chelsea dominating the play and Spurs insisting on keeping a high defensive line. Then on 55 minutes more bad news for Tottenham when Destiny Udogie was sent off for a second yellow offence and Spurs would have to play the rest of the game with just nine men.

Credit to Tottenham then who held out until the 75th minute. Sterling eventually beating their offside trap and playing the ball across the box to Jackson to finally give Chelsea the lead.

That wasn't quite it though, Tottenham nearly got back in to the game. Erik Dier had an effort disallowed for offside, Rodrigo Bentancur had a good chance he should probably have equalised from.

In stoppage time, Son Heung-min had an effort from the edge of the box that brought a fine save from Robert Sanchez. The miss would prove crucial as just 30 seconds later, Conor Gallagher took on the Sterling role to square the ball for Jackson for a carbon copy of Chelsea's second goal and the three points were safe for the Blues.

Finally, the pulsating action of the night was finished two minutes later when Jackson found himself clear of Spurs high-line and rounded Tottenham keeper Vicario (who it must be said had been excellent) to complete his hat-trick.

Another classic entry to the Chelsea-Tottenham rivalry. Spurs fans will claim it was the red cards that changed the game though in truth, after Johnson's disallowed goal Chelsea were dominating the play.

A big boost ahead of Chelsea's fixture with Manchester City at the weekend and a chance to see if this is a result Chelsea will build on.

Line-Up: Sanchez, James (Gusto 77'), Disasi, Silva, Colwill (Cucurella 45'), Caicedo, Fernandez (Mudryk 57'), Gallagher, Sterling (Ugochukwu 90'), Palmer, Jackson

Subs: Badiashile, Madueke, Petrovic, Maatsen, Washington

Match Report: Chelsea 2-0 Blackburn Rovers

Routine would be the word to describe this game.

Chelsea took the lead early on, Blackburn failing to clear their lines from a corner and Benoit Badiashile stroked the ball into the net on his return from injury.

In the second half, Rovers made a mess of getting the ball away from their penalty area and Raheem Sterling took advantage to curl in from near the edge of the box.

Blackburn rarely threatened the Chelsea goal though Robert Sanchez made a truly excellent save, stopping an effort from the edge of the 6-yard box to maintain Chelsea's clean sheet.

Next up in the League Cup is a Quarter Final at home to Newcastle United. A tough draw but with Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and the two Manchester clubs having already fallen by the way side it could be a good opportunity for Chelsea to win some silverware.

Line-Up: Sanchez, James (Gusto 61'), Disasi, Badiashile (Colwill 61'), Cucurella, Ugochukwu, Fernandez (Matos 87'), Palmer (Madueke 87'), Gallagher, Sterling, Jackson (Caicedo 75')

Subs: Petrovic, Maatsen, Washington, Castledine