Man City vs Chelsea LIVE RESULT: Haaland and Foden fire City into fourth after Sanchez error in Etihad thriller

Match report

Robert Sanchez was king of the cock-ups on a night of blue shirts and red faces at an error-strewn Etihad.

And no-one was happier to see the Chelsea keeper wearing the crown than Abdukodir Khusanov, after City’s own blunder boy had suffered the debut from hell.

More of that later…first, though, the latest clanger from Sanchez and a staggering FIFTH to cost his side a goal already this term.

Quite why he chose to head for the left angle of his area to pick off Ederson’s huge kick downfield only he knows. He was never going to get close.

Instead Erling Haaland got there first and had the simple task – for a finisher of his quality – of lobbing over the stranded Spaniard to put City in front.

Big start to a big week

A huge week for Manchester City, with a crunch Champions League game in midweek.

They host Club Brugge in Europe’s big competition before a trip to the Emirates to face Arsenal next Sunday.

Chelsea player ratings – FORWARDS

Noni Madueke – 7: Tapped home into an empty net with ease to open the scoring a couple of minutes into the game before troubling Man City’s left side on numerous occasions. Had bags of defensive work to do which is not his forte, and was caused major problems on the back foot by Josko Gvardiol rampaging down City’s left-hand side.

Cole Palmer  – 5: Looked a shadow of the player who had such an impact in this very fixture last season. Should’ve done better with a pass for Nicolas Jackson in the first half to make it 2-0, and generally didn’t have the impact we have seen from him so often this season.

Jadon Sancho – 5: A few nice runs and touches, but no end product of any meaning which is something Enzo Maresca is desperate to see from his wingers. Worked hard defensively down the left hand side, but could soon have Alejandro Garnacho breathing down his neck for a starting spot.

Nicolas Jackson – 6: Played a vital part in Noni Madueke’s opening goal after just two minutes, latching onto a loose header and calmly tapping it across for the winger to finish. Had a chance of his own a matter of moments later after a ball across the box from Cole Palmer, but opted to look for Jadon Sancho instead – a confident striker probably scores that. Faded as the game went on and City started to dominate before he was subbed for Christopher Nkunku.

Chelsea player ratings – MIDFIELDERS

Moises Caicedo – 6: A decent display against two of the strongest dribblers in the league in Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva. Composed on the ball and a leader in this team, but looks far more comfortable with Romeo Lavia alongside him in midfield.

Enzo Fernández  – 5: Tried his best to get the team going and be a leader in this side, and progressed the ball well at times too. Not the game changing performance we saw from him against the likes of Spurs, but not bad by any means.

Chelsea player ratings – DEFENDERS

SunSport’s Lloyd Canfield runs the rule over the visitors.

Robert Sanchez – 1: It was much the same as what we have seen from Robert Sanchez for Chelsea this evening. Not commanding in his area, poor distribution, and was more out of place than a penguin in the desert when Erling Haaland lobbed him to give City the lead. The sentiment of the travelling fans is that they are utterly sick of him.

Reece James –  6: Looked strong at the back and did his defensive duties well for the Blues for the most part. It would’ve been nice to see him more involved in an attacking sense, prancing down the right-hand side like we saw him do against Forest in the final game of last season.

Trevoh Chalobah – 6: His long ball upfield caused havoc for Khusanov on his debut and led to the opening goal after he stepped in to stop a Man City passage of play. Did well for large parts of the game, but Erling Haaland sat him down 1v1 before giving his side the lead in the second half.

Levi Colwill – 4: Was booked for time wasting at a goal kick after just 25 minutes, and the home crowd were onto him after that. It was a tough evening for him against Erling Haaland and the Norwegian’s relentless strength and power got the better of him at times, particularly for City’s third.

Marc Cucurella – 4: Wasn’t strong enough to get the better of Matheus Nunes who went on to set up Josko Gvardiol for Man City’s leveller.  Also failed to offer anything going forwards for his side.

Maresca reacts

Enzo Maresca reckons his side are BETTER than they were a couple of months ago, despite one win from the last six Premier League games.

And he rues the missed chances early doors while also recognising Robert Sanchez’s latest error.

He told Sky Sports: “The game started very well for us. We scored the first one and could have scored the second goal two or three times. The game would have completely changed. We missed.

“The team was there but in the last minutes we conceded for 1-1. The second goal changed the game. Robert is the first one [to admit] he knows he has to do better. Working hard every day [is the way to improve]. We try to have conversations with all of them.

“We are making progress. We are better than one or two months ago. These moments will make us better.”

On the new boy

On Abdukodir Khusanov, Pep Guardiola told Sky Sports: “He doesn’t speak English so I didn’t speak to him. He’ll be fine.

“He only made one or two training sessions. I didn’t want to push John [Stones] returning from injury.

“The players were together. That was massively important. Any player can make a mistake. The fans always support the new players. He’s so young. He will learn.”

While speaking to Match of the Day, he added: “It is not easy for him. He trains once and then to play against Jackson and Cole and Madueke and Sancho. It is a process when you buy a player this young. He will learn.

“These kinds of actions are the best lesson you can take.”

‘Recovered’

Pep Guardiola says his side were lucky not to have been punished in the early stages.

But he gave credit to his side for recovering well and putting in a good display.

He told Sky Sports: “Not the best start. Lucky they didn’t punish us for 2-0. After we recovered emotionally and made a good performance.

“We had more of the ball than the last games. It was really important.

“Now we’re closer to Nottingham but Bournemouth are on an impressive run.”

He’s a keeper

The second Man City goal was a bit more direct from them and while it was a shocker from Robert Sanchez in the Chelsea goal, it was also another assist from his opposite number one.

Ederson’s ball to Haaland ended up being his fifth assist in the Premier League.

That moves him joint-top in the goalkeeper assist records alongside Paul Robinson, Opta say.

XG tells a story

Chelsea’s XG was 1.61 today.

Second half was a contribution of 0.19, showing they did next to nothing after the break.

Haaland reacts

Erling Haaland says his side need to build on results like this in what is a really important week for the club.

He told Sky Sports: “I think it was a really good performance.

“We started really bad but we kept going and controlled a lot of the game.

“It was a great team performance.

“We have to keep winning games. Today we showed great spirit but now it’s about keeping going.

“We have to be ready for the next game in midweek and then onto Arsenal.”

Tight at the top

So Man City are into fourth and just three points behind Nottingham Forest in third now.

They jump ahead of Newcastle on goal difference and now a point ahead of Chelsea.

Maresca’s men were five points clear of City at one stage earlier tonight. A huge opportunity blown, from title contenders four weeks ago to only ahead of Bournemouth on goals scored!

Words

Pep Guardiola and Cole Palmer the last two to leave the pitch as they’re locked in dialogue.

Cole Palmer with a smile as they chat heading off the park. Maybe Pep was telling him that sort of performance is why he let him leave…

From Martin Blackburn at the Etihad

Abdukodir Khusanov owes Erling Haaland a beer tonight. The £33.5million Uzbeki defender had a nightmare start to his City career as he gifted the visitors a goal within three minutes.

But Josko Gvardiol levelled before half-time – and then Haaland took centre stage.

He latched onto Ederson’s long ball and then took full advantage of a rush of blood by Robert Sanchez to put his team in front – then he teed up Phil Foden to make the game safe late on. 

A big boost for City’s hopes of scrambling into the top four at the end of the season. 

Comfortable enough

Chelsea let Man City off the hook.

They had them where they wanted them after a few minutes and could – and should – have added to their lead.

That performance in the second half was as bad as any Chelsea 45 minutes in a long, long time. They showed too much respect to City who were never put under that much pressure despite their recent failings.

Erling Haaland and Phil Foden second half goals see them leapfrog Chelsea and Newcastle and into fourth.