Manchester City vs Chelsea Highlights: FT MCI 1-1 CHE; Fernandez helps Chelsea hold City to a stalemate

Manchester City move past Aston Villa to the second spot, but are a long way off from the top at the moment. Chelsea, meanwhile, move past Manchester United to fifth with both teams currently on 31 points after 20 games.

Manchester City dominated the first half in terms of possession, passes and attempts at goal in the first half, but the second half at the Etihad Stadium witnessed a lot more even a contest between the two sides, with Chelsea ultimately getting rewarded for their resilience.

90+8′: What a turnaround we witnessed at the Etihad Stadium! While City absolutely dominated the first half, and should have had more goals, Chelsea fought back impressively with one wave of attack after another in the second, ultimately getting rewarded with a late equaliser!

After Fernandez’ equaliser clears the VAR check, City attempt to restore the lead in the final piece action, which ends with a shot from the right channel landing on the roof of the net.

80′: Delap runs down the right flank, but isn’t able to get to the ball with Khusanov constantly blocking him. He shoves the Uzbek centre-back towards the advertising board in frustration, and the latter’s teammates aren’t happy about that at all as they confront Delap near the byline.

The referee brandishes a yellow card for the former City striker as well as for Matheus Nunes, presumably for getting too aggressive in the non-footballing showdown.

IN: Liam Delap and Jorrel Hato

OUT: Joao Pedro, Josh Acheampong

The home team dominated possession (69 per cent) and had 9 shots compared to just 1 for Chelsea.

45+2′: Man City are awarded a corner in the final piece of action before half-time, and Foden finds himself in perfect position to double his team’s lead, only for the ball to fly wide in the end. Referee Oliver blows his whistle shortly after as the players make their way back into the tunnel.

Despite the scoreline, Manchester City dominated Chelsea in the first half, and will feel they should have had more goals on the board than just one.

26′: City launch another ambitious charge towards the Chelsea penalty area after Palmer gives away possession rather cheaply near the midfield. Haaland is about to receive an aerial pass along the right flank when it gets intercepted by Badiashile. The home team are able to get a corner in the following minute, but are once again unable to thwart the Chelsea defence.

City, however, are bossing it at the moment in terms of passes completed in the final third (38-8).

Manchester City: Gvardiol, Rodri and Reijnders replace Ake, Gonzalez and Savinho.

Chelsea: Jorgensen, Badiashile, James, Neto and Pedro replace Sanchez, Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho and Delap.

Here are the results from Matchday 20 of the 2025-26 Premier League season that took place over the weekend: 

– Aston Villa 3-1 Nottingham Forest

– Brighton 2-0 Burnley

– Wolves 3-0 West Ham

– Bournemouth 2-3 Arsenal

– Leeds United 1-1 Manchester United

– Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Sunderland

– Everton 2-4 Brentford

– Newcastle United 2-0 Crystal Palace

– Fulham 2-2 Liverpool

Here’s the head-to-head record between Manchester City and Chelsea across competitions:

Matches: 64

City won: 29

Chelsea won: 27

Draws: 8

Here are the confirmed lineups for the upcoming City-Chelsea fixture at the Etihad Stadium:

Manchester City: Donnarumma, Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly, Rodri, Bernardo (C), Reijnders, Foden, Cherki, Haaland; Subs: Trafford, Ake, Doku, Khusanov, McAidoo, Mukasa, Lewis, Mfuni, R. Heskey

Chelsea: Jorgensen, Acheampong, Chalobah, Badiashile, Gusto, Fernandez, James (c), Estevao, Palmer, Neto, Joao Pedro; Subs: Merrick, Slonina, Tosin, Hato, Santos, Garnacho, Gittens, Delap, Guiu