Rodri and Man City not giving up on title despite ´frustrating´ Chelsea draw

Rodri still believes Manchester City are able to challenge Arsenal for the Premier League title, despite falling six points behind the Gunners after their 1-1 draw with Chelsea.

The Blues, who arrived at Etihad Stadium without a manager following Enzo Maresca’s shock New Year’s Day exit, snatched a point thanks to Enzo Fernandez’s late equaliser.

Indeed, timed at 93:14, Fernandez’s leveller is the latest equaliser or winner City have conceded at home in the Premier League since Michael Olise struck for Crystal Palace after 94 minutes and 28 seconds of their 2-2 draw in December 2023.

Tijjani Reijnders had thumped Guardiola’s men into the lead three minutes before half-time, with the Dutch midfielder netting his fourth goal in his last seven appearances.

However, City could not hold out, failing to win successive Premier League games for the second time this season, while putting Arsenal in pole position for the top-flight crown.

The Opta supercomputer has assigned the Citizens just a 10.5% chance of lifting the title, second to Mikel Arteta’s team, who finished top in 85.2% of its simulations.

“It’s frustrating, of course, but in the end, it is what it is,” Rodri said. “We created enough chances to win the game three or four-nil, but this is football.

“If you don’t take your chances with nothing, they just draw the game, so we have to learn from this. There is still a long way to go, and we just need to focus on the next games.

“We move on, we have the next game against Brighton at home and we have to win. We know that this season is going to be long, so we have to keep going and going.”

The result also saw City drop points from a winning position in a home Premier League game for the first time since March 2025 against Brighton, having won each of their previous 13 games when leading.

But they had their chances on Sunday, with Erling Haaland curling an effort onto the post after the Norwegian had earlier seen a deflected shot repelled by Filip Jorgensen.

City registered an expected goals (xG) total of just 0.99 from their 14 shots, though only three were on target, compared to Chelsea’s 1.73 from six fewer attempts.

Guardiola rubbished claims City had lost control of the game, but conceded his players in the final third failed to kill the game off when in the ascendency.

“I don’t agree [that City lost control]. They scored a goal and that is why you analyse the result,” the Citizens boss said.

“Of course, they made a step up and were more intense in the pressing, and they had the chances because we lost two balls in the beginning of the second half. But, if you believe that they shifted the momentum, OK. You might know better.

“Chelsea is a team of world champions, it is not academy players there. [They are] top-class players, so to have control for 90 minutes against a team is so, so difficult.

“We missed chances in the second half, four or five actions of two-versus-one or three-versus-two. Our talented players tried to finish the game, but we could not do that.

“It is what it is. When you talk about all the stats in all the departments that we can analyse, then one is how effective you are in the final third. In general, how we defend, how we run, how we play, was extraordinary.”