Wow! What a game! Match of the Year nominee for sure. Eight goals, seven yellow cards and a whole lot to talk about between Chelsea and Manchester City today. Erling Haaland bagged a brace, with Manuel Akanji and Rodri completing the scoring for Man City.
On the other side, former Cityzens Cole Palmer and Raheem Sterling scored against their former side, with the other two goals coming via Thiago Silva and Nicolas Jackson.
Not to mention you also had major controversy, with Haaland being awarded a penalty due to Marc Cucurella grabbing his shirt…despite the video footage showing that Haaland actually grabbed the shirt of Cucurella first. (we covered that here)
As for Palmer, what a massive moment this was for him- converting from the spot, late into extra time, to equalize and salvage a point against the team where there just never seemed to be a path towards regular first team football.
And this is just numerology nuts below, take a look:
Cole Palmer scored the 4th Chelsea goal today in a 4-4 draw against Man City at 94:24 min. It his 4th goal for Chelsea from 4 penalties and thanks to his goal Chelsea now has 4 wins, 4 draws & 4 loses, with 4×4 points this season. pic.twitter.com/GYwprvw9Xa
— Troll Football (@TrollFootball) November 12, 2023
As for Sterling, today he gave the performance that reminded us of what he used to be. This was maybe his best performance in a Chelsea shirt. And a friendly reminder that he was left off the England squad for this upcoming period.
Regarding Rodri, he was in the midst of this kerfuffle here:
Rodri’s highlight from today’s game.pic.twitter.com/B63T3Z7kmw
— CFCJohnnyB (@CFCJohnnyB) November 12, 2023
But after the match he gave a quote to the media which showcased a lot of sportsmanship, as he discussed just how far Chelsea have come this season.
“They [Chelsea] have great players, they signed massive players,” Rodri said.
“The level of their team has risen. So we knew where we were coming. I don’t think it was one of our best performances today. We played how they wanted.
“They want to play quick transitions, they are a better team in them situations, they have faster players and stronger. We needed to try and play our game, we struggled.
“Big credit to the opponent of course, they have good players and they were at home and they made pressure.”
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now, while writing for the International Baseball Writers Association of America. You can follow the website on Twitter.