Chelsea 4 Manchester City 4
So, Cole Palmer. How are your nerves? The question came in stoppage-time, towards the end of a breathless advert for the global pull of the Premier League. Manchester City led 4-3 but now the 21-year-old that they sold to Chelsea in August stood over a penalty.
Palmer is a City fan from the cradle. He joined their academy at the age of eight. He had started the season with goals for the club in the Community Shield and the European Super Cup. Now it fell to him to derail the momentum they had built over a five-game winning sequence; to fire Chelsea’s season some more after last Monday’s win at Tottenham.
The wait seemed to stretch for an eternity. But when Palmer stepped up, he made no mistake, scoring for a fourth time in Chelsea colours; all of them nerveless penalties. Pep Guardiola had said that big clubs did not care to whom they sold. Had he tempted fate?
Palmer was excellent here, and so was another former City player, Raheem Sterling, who had scored for 2-1 at a point that came to feel like a lifetime ago. City thought that they had nicked it when Rodri watched an 86th-minute shot deflect savagely off Thiago Silva. Erling Haaland had got two goals, Manuel Akanji another and it looked set to be a tale of heartbreak for Mauricio Pochettino and Chelsea.
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But after Rúben Dias had dived in on substitute Armando Broja to concede the last-gasp penalty, Palmer put himself at the front and centre of the story. His celebration was muted, to say the least – in stark contrast to the mayhem breaking out around him.
What a game it was, the touchpaper lit midway through the first half with a penalty award for City that was controversial – and not only because the visitors had played on while Chelsea had three players down. First Conor Gallagher pulled up after hurting himself in the act of closing down Dias and then, after City went up to the other end, Reece James collided with Moisés Caicedo as they went for a high ball. There was no obvious clash of heads.
When City pumped it back into the area, Haaland put his hands on Marc Cucurella, who responded in kind and watched the City striker go to ground. Anthony Taylor, with whom the Chelsea support have serious beef, gave what had to be described as a soft spot-kick and Haaland converted with relish. He really took his time before stepping forward to execute.
Chelsea’s response bristled with personality. They had brought the intensity at the outset, moving the ball quickly and smartly. Now they went up another notch, James leading by example, driving from right back. There was plenty of slickness about Pochettino’s midfield three, Gallagher a non-stop source of energy.
City celebrated when Ederson tipped over a James free-kick after a foul by Rodri on Enzo Fernández. It was a brilliant save. But Chelsea had the last laugh when Gallagher sent over the corner and Silva, timing his run towards the near post and in front of Haaland, glanced a brilliant header inside the far post.
Phil Foden shimmered with menace. He almost supplied Haaland with a cross after beating Cucurella. And then, after stepping inside his marker, he blasted inches past the far post. Foden could get away from Cucurella on the outside or the inside while his first touch was regularly of an exquisitely high standard.
It was Chelsea who scored next. The first half was a classic, heavy on narrative lines, too. It was Sterling who tapped home at the far post, although he had the presence of mind not to celebrate in front of the travelling City fans after running past them. It was Palmer who started the move, trying to play in James, who watched the ball break off Josko Gvardiol’s foot before firing over a low first-time cross.
Back came City. Haaland was denied by a fine Robert Sánchez save after slicing on to a Julián Álvarez pass and Pochettino was incandescent when his team switched off on a City short corner in stoppage-time. Bernardo Silva’s delivery was wicked but who had tracked Akanji’s run? Nobody. The headed finish felt like a formality after Akanji rose.
There was no let-up from City at the start of the second half. Not from Foden. And certainly not from Haaland. City’s third goal had its origins by the corner flag on their defensive left and was fired when Haaland rolled away from Caicedo’s attempted interception in the centre of the pitch. Foden waited for Álvarez to overlap, which he did at pace and there was Haaland sliding in to bundle home the cross.
City looked ready to pile on the pain. Their counters were sharp and threatening, although Jérémy Doku did blot their copybook with a dive inside the area for which he was booked.
The tempo was unrelenting and, again, Chelsea revived, showing the character that Pochettino has worked to instil. Palmer almost tricked through on the hour, beating three players but not Ederson.
Chelsea’s second equaliser followed a spill by Ederson after Gallagher had unloaded and there was Nicolas Jackson to take a touch and guide home. Moments earlier, Ederson had needed lengthy treatment for a knock. Had it been a factor? Gallagher’s shot did pack a punch.
Who could land the knock-out? The home crowd howled when Kyle Walker got away with a handball on the edge of his own area and then some more when the substitute, Malo Gusto, lifted a gilt-edged chance high after Sterling had robbed Rodri. And so to Rodri at the other end. But then to Palmer. – Guardian
