Chelsea holds City to blow title race wide open

Premier League title race twists as Chelsea stun City, Liverpool extend lead, and Arsenal climb to second.

Axel Disasi celebrates one of his many clearances and blocks in the 1-1 draw against Manchester City at the Etihad. (Photo credit: Sky Sports)

The title race in the Premier League took a different turn on Saturday as Chelsea stunned the reigning champions at the Etihad Stadium with a gritty defensive display.

Liverpool started the day with a commanding 4-1 win over Brentford, it was a game the Reds had to win after suffering defeats at the hands of the Bees in the past on the same ground, it was a game that was to give them some advantage over the other two, albeit temporarily, they didn’t let it slip.

While Liverpool would rue the loss of three players to injury, they’d hope at least, two of the five on the treatment table return before the cup final at the weekend. Alison was injured in training so, he didn’t make the match day squad while Diogo Jota, Curtis Jones, and Darwin Nunez, all didn’t make it to the second half of the game.

Beyond the 4-1 win, having Mohammed Salah back from injury was a ray of hope with the Egyptian coming off the bench to contribute a goal and an assist to the costly win. Liverpool went five points clear at the time and got ready for the Chelsea game in style.

Up next was Arsenal, Mikel Arteta’s side had a great outing away from home last weekend, scoring six at West Ham and hoping to do something similar against Burnley. The Clarets had Craig Bellamy in the dugout with Vincent Kompany serving a match ban.

It took only four minutes for the Gunners to register their intent, a crisp Gabriel Martinelli pass was well-controlled by Martin Odegaard before the Norwegian blasted past James Trafford. It never looked in doubt for the Gunners from there.

Bukayo Saka scored the next two; one from the spot and the other, a fierce shot with his weaker foot just two minutes into the second half. Leandro Trossard added the fourth before Kai Havertz cut inside to slide home the fifth. That’s the third time in five games that the Gunners have scored five or more this year.

The win took Arsenal to second on the log and City had to win, Pep Guardiola looked like he wasn’t taking chances with his line up but it was Chelsea who scored first. Raheem Sterling came back to haunt the team that gave him their stage to dance on, it was a simple goal that meant a lot.

City rallied, threatened, and left everything in the Chelsea area but Axel Disasi was a rock on the day, clearing everything in sight until Nathaniel Chalobah deflected a Rodri effort past his own keeper to hand City a point. Chelsea stays in tenth but the point they earned means a lot to the title race.