Man City 1-1 Chelsea: Pep Guardiola's side lose more ground on Arsenal in title race as Enzo Fernandez leaves it late to rescue point

04.01.2026, 22:33 skysports.com

Manchester City lost more ground on Premier League leaders Arsenal after Enzo Fernandez rescued a late 1-1 draw for managerless Chelsea at a snowy Etihad Stadium.

A somewhat subdued City performance was brought to life by Tijjani Reijnders in the first half, scoring his sixth league goal of the season by lashing an emphatic finish into the roof of the net, with City on course to move back within four points of the Gunners.

But there was a stoppage-time twist, and it concerned the tenacious away side, who had already spurned decent opportunities via Pedro Neto and Liam Delap. Deep into added time, Malo Gusto pulled wide and charged towards a crossing position, with the ball eventually rippling to Fernandez, who beat Gianluigi Donnarumma at the third time of asking.

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Man City do move back above Aston Villa into second but are now six points adrift of Arsenal after back-to-back draws, only managing to score once from a combined xG of 3.23.

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The other downside for a disgruntled Pep Guardiola will be his mounting injury list, with defensive pairing Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias added to it, albeit a returning Rodri completed 90 minutes for the first time since September to ease the shortness in midfield.

"It does not look good," Pep said of Gvardiol and Dias. "When you have all the squad, you can compete and rotate but now it is a situation." City now only have four senior defenders fit.

Chelsea, meanwhile, with only one win in their last eight, stay in touch of the top four with a battling point - perhaps something for an incoming new manager, heavily rumoured to be Strasbourg boss Liam Rosenior, to build on.

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Sky Sports' Lewis Jones:

"It's always noteworthy to look at the bookmaker odds for the title after a swing like this.

"Arsenal are now 4/11 (73 per cent chance) to win the Premier League - it is the shortest price they have been this season to claim the title. Man City are 7/2 and Aston Villa 33/1.

"Only Arsenal can stop Arsenal now, surely?"

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