Key events
84 min: Palmer curls the free kick long. Gvardiol, facing his own goal, does extremely well to trap, turn and clear under pressure from Nkunku.
83 min: Palmer bustles his way down the inside-left channel only to be floored from behind by Kovacic. The City man goes into the book, and this is a free kick in a dangerous position, 30 yards out. Everyone lines up on the edge of the box.
82 min: Neto works his way down the left and earns a corner. The set piece is hit long and finds Caicedo, just inside the box on the right. Caicedo should shoot, but miscontrols and can’t get anything away. A half-chance goes begging.
81 min: Haaland nearly barrels his way clear down the middle again, some good old-fashioned 1980s-style barging. But Chalobah stands up to him this time. Chelsea not yet looking as though they’ll get back into this.
79 min: Silva is booked for a pretty cynical clip on the heel of Fernandez. “Every week, I think goalkeeping standards can drop no lower. And then they do.” Gary Naylor there, who as an Evertonian will have been spoilt over the years by greats such as Neville Southall, Gordon West and, eh, Jordan Pickford. But the point stands.
77 min: Nunes one-twos crisply with De Bruyne down the right, and has options in front of him as he enters the box. But then he shows too much of the ball to Cucurella, and the crowd groan.
76 min: City extract some sting from the game with a bit of their old-school possession play. All of a sudden, they’re back, baby!
74 min: Marmoush’s promising debut comes to an end. On comes De Bruyne.
73 min: Chelsea make a double change. James and Sancho make way for Gusto and Neto.
72 min: … nowt.
71 min: Madueke dribbles down the right. He looks like he’s run the ball out for a goal kick, but flicks it off Gvardiol’s startled face just in time. Corner. Which leads to …
70 min: The Etihad, so quiet minutes before, is now bubbling with joyous noise. To reiterate: Chelsea had Manchester City on the ropes early in the first half, only to let the champions back into the fight. You don’t let champions back into the fight.
GOAL! Manchester City 2-1 Chelsea (Haaland 68)
City go long again, and hit the jackpot! Ederson creams a long pass down the right for Haaland, who holds off Chalobah with ease. He spins inside, putting Chalobah on his backside, then floats a careful curler over Sanchez, who had rashly come to the edge of his box for whatever reason. Brilliant by Haaland, not so great from Chelsea’s point of view.
67 min: A simple long ball down the middle nearly does for Chelsea. Haaland holds it up, advancing down the inside-left channel before rolling infield for Marmoush, who could feed Foden to his right, but opts to shoot instead. His effort isn’t far away from the top-right corner, but high and wide nonetheless.
65 min: City aren’t achieving much at the moment. Pep doing a lot of pointing. The home crowd becoming a little pensive.
63 min: … in fact Foden one-twos with Gundogan before attempting to send a ball into the box. The eventual delivery is no good, and Chelsea clear their lines without fuss.
62 min: Nunes advances down the right and wins a corner off Cucurella. Foden to deliver.
61 min: This is now pretty scrappy stuff from two of England’s blue-chip clubs. Silva hoicks a free kick from the right straight into Sanchez’s arms; Cucurella has the chance to release Jackson down the left but slices the ball out for a throw. That’s the last we’ll see of Jackson, who is then hooked in favour of Nkunku.
59 min: Sancho crashes a shot off the base of the left-hand post. But he’d already been flagged offside, the whistle gone.
58 min: Ah, here we go. Chelsea pick up the pace, and Jackson dribbles hard down the left. He’s got options in the middle, but slips and his shot-cum-cross dribbles through to Ederson. Seconds after the restart, Caicedo is booked for hauling back Marmoush, though that might be a final-straw thing rather than for the foul itself.
57 min: The match restarts, but doesn’t restart. You get the drift.
55 min: In the meantime, Chalobah requires some treatment after Haaland accidentally landed on top of him, on his head, with predictable consequences. Thankfully after a good look by the physio, the Chelsea defender is good to continue.
53 min: Khusanov’s disappointing debut is over. He’s replaced by Stones, and walks off with sad doe eyes. To the great credit of the City fans, they make sure to give the young lad a proper reception as he leaves the pitch. Pep gives him a big hug too. He’ll be back, stronger and wiser for the experience.
51 min: The press pays dividends again, but Palmer and Fernandez both take turns to dither over a shot. City counter and Haaland tries to show them how it’s done, cutting in from the right, taking advantage of a Colwill misread, and bashing low and hard. Sanchez parries.
50 min: Ederson shanks a pass out for a throw, under pressure from Jackson. Nothing comes of it, but still. Chelsea’s high press, so successful early on in this match, but strangely forgotten for the rest of it, is suddenly back.
49 min: Kovacic nearly finds Haaland down the middle with a slide-rule pass, but Sanchez reads the danger and comes out of his box to larrup clear.
47 min: Madueke spins past Gvardiol and looks to make good down the right. Marmoush comes across to help his defender out. The new striker has been lively at both ends of the pitch. All augurs well. “For all of Chelsea’s money spent, it is ironic that three-quarters of their backline are English academy graduates,” writes Sam Jessop. “The production line of defenders that Chelsea produce (Aina, Hall, Livramento, Tomori, Colwill, Chalobah, James, Lamptey, Guehi, Christensen and even Akè) is quite ridiculous.”
Manchester City get the second half started. No changes. Before the restart, a lovely scene as Haaland and Sancho embrace and chat. Buddies from their days at Borussia Dortmund.
… and as for poor Abdukodir Khusanov … well, the young man wasn’t the first, and he won’t be the last.
Half-time entertainment. Coronation Street currently the third most-gripping Mancunian soap opera.
HALF TIME: Manchester City 1-1 Chelsea
A scoreline that’s probably about right, when taken in the round. But Chelsea had City on the ropes early doors, and let the champions back into the fight. You don’t let champions back into the fight. All of which could make for a very entertaining second half. Go nowhere!
45 min +2: Madueke dribbles in from the right and has a shot from the edge of the D. It’s deflected inches over the bar. There’s no time to take the corner, though. There goes that whistle.
45 min +1: The first of two additional minutes. Nowt to report.
45 min: Palmer, making good down the middle, has Jackson and Madueke either side. He hesitates, allowing Silva to get back and nick the ball off his toe. “Why are Chelsea knocking their goal kicks short to the keeper to immediately hoof down field?” wonders Dan Christmas. “Have goal kicks become so ubiquitously taken short that players have forgotten you can hoof the dead ball?”
43 min: VAR has a quick check, but Madueke was too deep out on the Chelsea right and playing Nunes onside.
GOAL! Manchester City 1-1 Chelsea (Gvardiol 42)
City go down the middle again, and this time hit paydirt! Gundogan pings down the middle for Nunes, who gets the better of Cucurella and shoots upon entering the box. Sanchez saves, but the ball deflects towards Gvardiol, romping in from the left. Gvardiol can’t miss with the goal unguarded. City level!
40 min: City remain patient … then suddenly spring forward. Foden floats a pass down the middle to release Gvardiol, who gets in ahead of the dozing James. Sanchez comes out to close the angle. Gvardiol flicks a leg insouciantly to take an early shot. The ball squirts past Sanchez and inches wide of the bottom-left corner. That would have been some goal.
38 min: City enjoy a period of quiet possession. Calm dominance. Remember when they were always like this? It’s not so long ago, either, which makes it all so odd.
36 min: Marmoush has looked lively, though. So far, his debut has been as promising as Khusanov’s has been unfortunate.
34 min: Gundogan shoots through a crowded Chelsea box towards the bottom right. Sanchez parries, but spills into the road of Marmoush, who slots across the keeper and into the bottom left. But it’s not going to count. Marmoush was offside when the initial shot was struck.
33 min: Cucurella has the opportunity to release Sancho down the left. The pass is no good, though, handing Khusanov the opportunity of a confidence-building slide tackle.
32 min: The resulting free kick is worked wide left to Marmoush, who whips a deep cross towards Foden, rushing in from the other side. Foden’s header, from six yards, is high and wide. But he’d have been flagged offside had it gone in.
31 min: Kovacic bustles down the middle and is skittled by Caicedo, who is rather fortunate not to go into the book. Just a stern talking-to from the referee.
