After winning their final eight games of last year, Manchester City were held to a second successive stalemate of 2026 in a dramatic 1-1 draw with Chelsea, who have now drawn seven of their last 10 opening matches of a calendar year, APA reports.
With the headlines ahead of this one dominated by the shock departure of Enzo Maresca as Chelsea manager, it was little surprise to see stand-in boss Calum McFarlane employing caution in the early moments.
That subdued City, and even spawned the first chance of the game when Estevao’s shot from the centre of the area was blocked by Josko Gvardiol.
The hosts’ fortunes improved from there, though, and Phil Foden missed a pair of chances before Bernardo Silva curled over from a promising position.
It was nearly half-time by the time Erling Haaland got into the game, but he went closest yet for City in smashing a left-footed, curling strike against the post.
And that proved to be the catalyst, with Tijjani Reijnders receiving it just a couple of minutes later, finding space for a shot and blasting into the roof of Filip Jorgensen’s net from a tight angle.
