EUROPEAN FOOTBALL WRAP: City drop points, Bayern in crisis, Real Madrid slip-up in LaLiga

City open door to title rivals

There were plenty of pundits out there who were envisioning a 4 or 5-nil win for City at home to Chelsea this weekend. I personally felt that things were always going to be tighter against the schizophrenic London outfit. And that’s not just because of Chelsea’s recent uptick in form. There is just something about the athleticism of this Chelsea outfit that is perfectly calibrated to this City side.

Chelsea just sat on the back foot and absorbed the pressure at the Etihad, launching devastating counterattacks against City’s vulnerable high line. That led to Sterling’s opener and probably should have given them some breathing room going into the 2nd half. City’s stranglehold on possession became almost parodic in the 2nd half and it was only a matter of time until they equalized, with Rodri rifling home a fizzing left-foot half-volley in the closing stages of the match.

But City couldn’t really mobilize for a final tilt and I think a draw was ultimately a fair reflection of the match. I really think that Foden is wasted in a wider position while Doku tends to take too long in his decision-making process. The T-1000 also malfunctioned this weekend, with Erling Haaland wasting a series of gilt-edged opportunities to bring City back into the game. The truth is this: when Haaland isn’t scoring he isn’t providing a whole lot to the overall fabric of the side.

And City’s dropped points were obviously exacerbated by comfortable away wins for both Liverpool and Arsenal. Liverpool were clinical at Brentford, with four different goal-scorers wreaking havoc in a 4-1 win. Darwin Nunez scored an uncharacteristically composed little chip while Mo Salah scored in his return to action.

But Liverpool’s dynamic display was somewhat overshadowed by growing injury concerns. Curtis Jones and Diego Jota look like they will be out for a while. Darwin Nunez also felt a twinge that saw him leave the field of early. Jurgen Klopp has been exceptional with his squad rotation this season and it will be fascinating to see how he approaches it as we enter the business end. The big winners for me this weekend were Arsenal. They routed Burnley 5-0 to secure their 5th consecutive Premier League win.

Their top players seem to be cooking again and there appears to be a real belief that they could hold off their more favoured title challengers. Martin Odegaard has often been accused of hiding in the big moments but he has been exceptional in recent weeks. Arteta’s next real challenge is learning to dual-wield a tile race and the latter stages of the Champions League. Pep and Klopp know what it takes to manage both domestic and European responsibilities and this will make or break Arsenal’s campaign.