As the rain began to lash down in west London, Premier League fans were left in awe as an eight-goal thriller capped off an incredible Super Sunday of football. West Ham had earlier beaten Nottingham Forest 3-2, which left supporters wondering if the best of the action had happened in the early kick-off, but they were to be proven wrong by a young Chelsea side; fresh from beating London rivals Spurs 4-1 on Monday night and the ever-dominant Manchester City who had beaten the Blues 1-0 in all four of their meetings last season.
As soon as the match begun, preceded by the last of the Premier League’s remembrance celebrations in which the Chelsea pensioners were warmly received by both sets of fans at Stamford Bridge, you could tell this was going to be a cracker of a game. Mauricio Pochettino had clearly setup his Chelsea side to be effective on the counterattack and that had so far worked a treat, with Cole Palmer and Raheem Sterling causing problems on either flank and others joining in to press City into making rare errors on the ball, something that would prove to be much more common in today’s encounter.
However, first blood would be struck by Man City just before the half an hour mark. Bernardo Silva whipped in a delightful cross which was headed clear by Thiago Silva, but just behind the Brazilian, Marc Cucurella had wrestled Erling Haaland to the ground leaving Anthony Taylor no choice but to point to the penalty spot. Despite this being a harsh decision as Haaland was never going to get to the ball, you simply have to admit that Cucurella’s challenge is a foul anywhere else on the pitch. Haaland wouldn’t pass up such a big opportunity to put his side in front and sent Sanchez the wrong way to put the visitors 1-0 up.
Many, including myself, thought that City would simply control the game and win comfortably from that moment onwards, but that isn’t in the nature of Pochettino’s young Chelsea side and this isn’t the Chelsea of last season. Reece James forced Ederson into a fantastic save from a freekick, but the resulting corner wouldn’t stop Thiago Silva from heading past his former Brazilian teammate as he became the first 39-year-old to score in the Premier League since Ryan Giggs in February 2013, over a decade ago. The Blues then took a deserved lead through former City winger Raheem Sterling who tapped home a fizzed James cross to leave many thinking Chelsea would be holding the advantage at half-time. A crucial rule of modern football is to never doubt Pep Guardiola and his City team and they showed us why in additional time as Manuel Akanji blasted a header past Robert Sanchez, who lambasted his defence for their awful marking that left the Swiss defender unchallenged in the box.
Many managers would simply shut up shop at this point and try to prevent any more goals from being leaked in the second half, but these two tacticians don’t follow the expected norms of football. In fact, it only took two minutes after the break for City to retake the lead. That man Erling Haaland struck again, sliding home Julian Alvarez’s cross to silence the Bridge and halt Chelsea’s momentum. A few good chances followed, but both goalkeepers had their angles covered. Cole Palmer went on a Messi-like run and nearly scored only to be denied by a combination of him falling and Ederson who was in fine form. Not long after, Conor Gallagher thundered a shot from range at Ederson who spilled the ball into the path of Nicolas Jackson; a passenger of the game up until now, but a tidy finish from the Senegalese striker had Chelsea level at 3-3. What a game!
Time was no longer a friend of the neutrals, who were wishing the game to continue, and as additional time was looming, it seemed like both sides were willing to share the points. However, City upped the tempo with former Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic having a shot blocked on the edge of the box which bounced back to Rodri who lashed home what many thought was the winner. The Spaniard had scored City’s Champions League winner in June and clearly has a taste for important winning goals. That strike would’ve won the game too if Ruben Dias didn’t make a rash challenge on Broja in the eighteen-yard box. The centre back made a rare error and went to ground in the box, taking the ball as well as the Albanian striker. Taylor had no choice but to award a penalty and who else would take it? Cole Palmer, City’s boy and Chelsea’s man as Peter Drury said on commentary. Palmer stepped up and delivered a fine penalty to leave Ederson with no chance. The young man born in Wythenshawe, Manchester, had just come back to haunt his former side.
The final whistle blew, and the final score was 4-4. A brilliant afternoon had left football fans across the world entertained as the Premier League proved again why it is the best league in the world.