Sergio Aguero made a mess of a Panenka penalty as Chelsea ensured Manchester City must wait a little longer to wrap up the Premier League title by fighting back to earn a dramatic win at Etihad Stadium.
City, needing three points to become champions of England for the seventh time, took the lead just before half-time through Raheem Sterling’s close-range strike.
Aguero had a glorious chance to make it 2-0 from the spot moments later when Billy Gilmour fouled Gabriel Jesus, but the Argentina striker opted for a dinked effort that was easily saved by Edouard Mendy.
It proved a costly miss, as Chelsea improved after the break and equalised when Cesar Azpilicueta set up Hakim Ziyech to fire home from the edge of the area.
The visitors had two more efforts ruled out for offside before Marcus Alonso won it for them in injury time, meeting Timo Werner’s pull-back and sending the ball looping over Ederson.
This was Chelsea’s second win over City in the space of three weeks, following their victory in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley in April.
The two sides will meet again in the Champions League final in Istanbul at the end of this month.
This result can only give Chelsea extra confidence ahead of that game, as well as providing a big boost to their hopes of a top-four finish, but in truth this encounter offered few clues to how their next meeting will be decided.
City boss Pep Guardiola made nine changes to the side that beat Paris St-Germain here on Tuesday, while his Chelsea counterpart Thomas Tuchel made five – and the result was a disjointed performance from both sides.
More follows.
Line-ups
Man City
Formation 3-1-4-2
- 31Ederson
- 3Rúben Dias
- 14Laporte
- 6Aké
- 16Rodri
- 27Cancelo
- 21TorresSubstituted forGündoganat 71′minutes
- 7SterlingBooked at 12mins
- 22MendySubstituted forZinchenkoat 80′minutes
- 9Gabriel JesusBooked at 90mins
- 10AgüeroSubstituted forFodenat 70′minutes
Substitutes
- 2Walker
- 8Gündogan
- 11Zinchenko
- 13Steffen
- 20Bernardo Silva
- 25Fernandinho
- 26Mahrez
- 47Foden
- 50García
Chelsea
Formation 3-4-2-1
- 16Mendy
- 28Azpilicueta
- 4ChristensenSubstituted forZoumaat 45+3′minutes
- 2Rüdiger
- 24James
- 23Gilmour
- 7KantéSubstituted forJorginhoat 68′minutes
- 3Alonso
- 10Pulisic
- 22ZiyechSubstituted forHudson-Odoiat 76′minutes
- 11Werner
Substitutes
- 1Arrizabalaga
- 5Jorginho
- 9Abraham
- 15Zouma
- 18Giroud
- 20Hudson-Odoi
- 29Havertz
- 33Emerson
- 57Livramento
Live Text
Match ends, Manchester City 1, Chelsea 2.
Second Half ends, Manchester City 1, Chelsea 2.
Goal! Manchester City 1, Chelsea 2. Marcos Alonso (Chelsea) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the high centre of the goal. Assisted by Timo Werner.
Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City).
Christian Pulisic (Chelsea) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Corner, Chelsea. Conceded by Ederson.
Attempt saved. Marcos Alonso (Chelsea) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the top left corner.
Attempt blocked. Ilkay Gündogan (Manchester City) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Gabriel Jesus with a headed pass.
Attempt missed. Phil Foden (Manchester City) left footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Ilkay Gündogan with a cross.
Attempt missed. João Cancelo (Manchester City) left footed shot from the right side of the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Rodrigo.
Foul by Callum Hudson-Odoi (Chelsea).
Rúben Dias (Manchester City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt blocked. Raheem Sterling (Manchester City) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by João Cancelo.
VAR Decision: No Goal Manchester City 1-1 Chelsea.
Offside, Chelsea. Reece James tries a through ball, but Callum Hudson-Odoi is caught offside.
Foul by Raheem Sterling (Manchester City).
César Azpilicueta (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution, Manchester City. Oleksandr Zinchenko replaces Benjamin Mendy.
Offside, Chelsea. Jorginho tries a through ball, but Timo Werner is caught offside.
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Manchester City
Squad number8Player nameGündogan
Squad number11Player nameZinchenko
Squad number47Player nameFoden
Chelsea
Squad number16Player nameMendy
Squad number28Player nameAzpilicueta
Squad number4Player nameChristensen
Squad number2Player nameRüdiger
Squad number24Player nameJames
Squad number23Player nameGilmour
Squad number7Player nameKanté
Squad number3Player nameAlonso
Squad number10Player namePulisic
Squad number22Player nameZiyech
Squad number11Player nameWerner
Squad number5Player nameJorginho
Squad number15Player nameZouma
Squad number20Player nameHudson-Odoi