Rodri’s late rescue robs Chelsea of their best result under Mauricio Pochettino as Man City rue wasted chances

The last time Chelsea beat Manchester City, Rodri had a watching brief from the bench. He was an unused substitute in the 2021 Champions League final and if both his and Chelsea’s fortunes have shifted dramatically since then – the Spaniard scoring the winner in Europe’s biggest club game of 2023 while the former champions finished in the lower half of the Premier League – it took a crunch player’s latest crucial intervention to extend two unbeaten runs.

Thanks to his equaliser, City have not lost to Chelsea in the subsequent eight rematches. They have not been defeated at home in 34 matches, spanning 462 days. And yet, well-timed as his damage-limitation exercise was, it was still a day when City suffered harm.

Liverpool and Arsenal registered emphatic wins so City find themselves third in a three-horse race, their sequence of 11 straight wins ended. This was a reminder to the wider world that glory is no formality.

For Mauricio Pochettino it was a case of what might have been and what almost was on a night when his side looked a force to be reckoned with. The best win of his Chelsea career beckoned until Rodri rifled a half-volley that flicked off the substitute Trevoh Chalobah’s knee and flew in to give the defensive midfielder his seventh goal of a season that has plenty of time still to run.