Key talking points as wasteful City drop points vs Chelsea

Manchester City dropped points in the Premier League for the first time in 2024 as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Chelsea.

Pep Guardiola's side could not follow Liverpool's 4-1 win at Brentford or Arsenal's 5-0 victory over Burnley and were guilty of missing a number of opportunities, star striker Erling Haaland in particular.

Here are five talking points from a rainy night at the Etihad.

Title race

Liverpool and Arsenal will be understandably delighted with City's failure to beat Chelsea — and the title race has never looked more open.

Even if the Citizens beat Brentford in their game in hand on Tuesday, they will not go above the Reds and would only be one point ahead of the Gunners.

City are also trailing their rivals in the goal difference column after failing to make the most of their chances at the Etihad.

The champions are on plus 31, with Arsenal leading the way on plus 36 and Liverpool close behind on plus 35.

Confidence boost

Chelsea's display will hand them a much-needed boost ahead of next weekend's Carabao Cup final against Liverpool.

Mauricio Pochettino's side were impressive in attack during the first half, regularly catching out City's high line on the counter.

And the West Londoners showed off their defensive solidity to withstand a barrage from the hosts late on, France international Axel Disasi a standout performer.

City had 71% of the possession and 32 shots on goal but could not breach Chelsea's defence for a second time.

Haaland's night to forget

Haaland still leads the Premier League Golden Boot race with 16 goals, although he had a bit of a nightmare against Chelsea.

The Norway star recently bagged a brace in a 2-0 win over Everton but was not clinical at all on his home patch despite having nine shots.

Haaland, 23, missed a number of golden opportunities, the worst coming midway through the second half when he somehow headed over Kevin De Bruyne's pinpoint left-footed cross.

Perhaps his long injury layoff is having a delayed effect, which could be bad news for City as we approach the business end of the season.

Raheem's return

It has been a difficult season for Raheem Sterling but he finished off a superb counterattack to stun his former club just before the interval.

Sterling, 29, had earlier missed a magnificent chance to test Ederson, a dreadful first touch making it easy for the City stopper.

But when he was presented with another opportunity courtesy of some superb build-up play from Nicolas Jackson, the England international took full advantage to silence the Etihad.

Sterling cleverly deceived Kyle Walker inside the box before coolly firing the ball into the bottom corner and claiming his second goal against City this season.

Man for the big occasions

Rodri continues to deliver for City in big games and it is why he is revered as arguably the team's most important player.

With Chelsea defending deep and Haaland unable to find the target, the Spaniard stepped up to fire home a crucial equaliser in the final 10 minutes.

Walker's blocked shot fell into Rodri's path and he slammed the ball past a helpless Dodre Petrovic.

The 27-year-old has now scored six Premier League goals this term, one fewer than his best tally from 2021-22.