Football is not just a game. It’s a game of passion. Manchester City got back to winning ways by coming from behind to beat Chelsea in an entertaining game.
Chelsea took the lead when N’Golo Kante slipped the ball past Ederson from Mateo Kovacic’s aerial pass.
At this point, City was facing back-to-back Premier League defeats which would have left them 12 points behind Liverpool and given them an uphill task to retain their title.
However, the hosts rallied and equalized when Kevin de Bruyne’s shot hit Kurt Zouma and wrongfooted goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Riyad Mahrez put the reigning champions ahead with a fine finish after cutting in from the right-wing.
Both sides could have scored more in a chaotic first half. City went closest when Sergio Aguero hit the crossbar after a poor clearance by Kepa.
There were fewer incidents in the second half although Aguero hobbled off and had to be replaced by Gabriel Jesus.
Sterling thought he had scored a late third for City. But it was ruled out by VAR in a very tight offside call.
City had 46.74% of the ball. The lowest percentage by any Guardiola’s team in any of his 381 top-flight matches in charge of Barcelona, Bayern or Manchester City.
The club sits nine points behind Liverpool who beat them 3-1 in the last game before the international break.
“Chelsea is an incredible team.” Said Guardiola. “We knew it, but we beat them.”
“It was a typical high-level game. Our back four played so well today. In the most difficult period of the game, we scored on the counter.”
“We created enough chances to score more goals.”
Drama from both ends
City did enough to see the game out after the break restricting Chelsea who had won their previous six Premier League games to five shots all of the targets.
The hosts had most of the second-half opportunities despite their unusually low amount of possession.
However, Chelsea was inches away from equalizing in injury time when substitute Mason Mount’s 30-yard free-kick went just wide.
Seconds later, City was celebrating for a third goal as Mahrez headed the ball on for Sterling to blast home. But VAR check ruled that England forward was marginally offside.