JAKARTA - Manchester City failed to approach Arsenal after losing a full point due to Chelsea's last-minute goal that tied the score to 1-1 in the English Premier League match at the Etihad Stadium, Monday, January 5, 2026 WIB.
Man City's disappointing result when Arsenal was speeding up and did not stop winning which confirmed their position at the top of the English League standings. Man City, who tried to maintain the point gap with Arsenal, lost an important point when starting 2026.
Yes, Man City has lost points when they were held by Sunderland 0-0 which ended the record of nine consecutive wins. Failing to win on the road, The Cityzens hope to rise when hosting Chelsea in a big match.
The hope is getting stronger because Chelsea is facing a serious problem after dismissing manager Enzo Maresca. A shocking decision because Chelsea lost the manager just when they were playing an important match.
However, Man City was unable to take advantage of the opportunity and lost points again. Even though they were ahead first, they had to be content with a 1-1 draw. Ironically, Chelsea's goal came in injury time.
The additional one point was just to improve Man City's ranking by moving Aston Villa. Now, both teams have 42 points. However, Man City is still ahead of the goal difference. They are also six points behind Arsenal.
Meanwhile, Chelsea still survived in fifth place with 31 points. The same as Manchester United drew 1-1 against Leeds United. Only, Chelsea has a goal difference.
The failure to win at home made midfielder Rodri disappointed. Moreover, the team was able to dominate the game and create a number of opportunities, especially in the first half.
"We played brilliantly, especially in the first half. We should even have scored three or four goals. It's just that in the second half we failed to dominate the game. On the other hand, they were able to control the game," said Rodri, who assessed that when Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias lost their injuries, Man City's game changed.
"The team lost its balance as soon as a player came out (due to injury). However, we were still able to overcome it because we have many talented players. The question is, we are no longer dominating," he said.
In that match, Man City, who returned to Rodri after being absent for quite some time due to injury, was able to show dominance over Chelsea. Interim manager Calum McFarlane, who is a coach for Chelsea U-21, had some difficulty in presenting a solid team.
Even though they were more dominant, Man City had to work hard to penetrate the Blues' defense. They only got a good chance through Phil Foden in the 20th minute. Only Foden's kick was still wide. Furthermore, Bernardo Silva's kick also flew high above the goal.
Chelsea goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen, who started in the Premier League for the first time in place of the injured Robert Sanchez, was able to play brilliantly.
He made a brilliant save when he fended off Erling Haaland's shot. Even Haaland was sure to score and almost celebrated it but he had to be disappointed because Jorgensen could stop him.
However, Jorgensen's goal was finally conceded towards the end of the first half. Indonesian-born midfielder Tijjani Reijnders managed to break the deadlock. Reijnders' hard shot failed to be saved by Jorgensen, who changed the score to 1-0. The score remained until the first half ended.
In the second half, Man City continued to dominate. However, the efforts of Pep Guardiola's team did not bear fruit. Moreover, the hosts lost Gvardiol who was injured.
Chelsea themselves got the chance to bounce back. Their attack began to threaten Man City's defense. Forward Pedro Neto almost broke Gianluigi Donnarumma's goal when his shot bounced over the crossbar.
Likewise, the opportunity for Liam Delap can still be thwarted by Donnarumma. In fact, the Italian national team goalkeeper can actually thwart Enzo Fernandez's efforts in injury time.
But Fernandez managed to maximize the rebound ball that changed the score to 1-1 just moments before the match ended. That score lasted until the end.
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