Manchester City – Chelsea: Fernández’s Equalizer Dents City’s Momentum (1-1)

Manchester City dominated the first half as Chelsea sat back passively in a defensive block. Tijjani Reijnders produced the opener from a well-worked counterattack after a careless loss of possession by the visitors in midfield. After a few changes at half-time by Calum McFarlane, Chelsea grew into the game, found stability, and began threatening offensively. In the end, Enzo Fernández delivered a last-minute equalizer to steal a point off Pep Guardiola’s side, who have been gathering momentum over the past weeks.

Tactical analysis and match report by Fahd Ahmed.

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Turbulent times at Chelsea followed Enzo Maresca surprisingly parting ways at the start of the year due to tensions with the hierarchy. Calum McFarlane took charge of the team and made four changes, most of which were forced. Moisés Caicedo was suspended yet again, Robert Sánchez was sidelined due to a muscle issue, Wesley Fofana was unwell, and Alejandro Garnacho was dropped to the bench. Instead, McFarlane fielded Reece James, Filip Jørgensen, Benoît Badiashile, and Pedro Neto, respectively.

Manchester City have been on fire since their 2–0 loss to Bayer Leverkusen. Since then, they have been unbeaten in nine games, with only one of those not being a win – a frustrating goalless draw against Sunderland last Thursday despite creating numerous chances. This form kept City within just four points of league leaders Arsenal.

Pep Guardiola made three changes to the eleven that played mid-week. Tijjani Reijnders was preferred to Savinho, which meant that Phil Foden was pushed up to play a more attacking role. Nico González was understandably benched for Rodri. Lastly, Joško Gvardiol featured at left centre-back instead of Nathan Aké.

As expected, the match on Sunday night commenced with City controlling possession and Chelsea interestingly setting up with a back five. Since they were defending passively, the City players attempted to manipulate the opposition in certain ways to break them down.

Attempting central overloads against Chelsea’s 5-2-3 defensive block

Although Chelsea were defending passively for the most part, they managed to reduce the space between the lines and keep it compact by deploying a relatively high defensive line. Furthermore, the visitors allowed certain City players the luxury of having time on the ball but would press when the wide men received possession or when a pass was attempted through the centre.

Nevertheless, when the City centre-backs or defensive midfielder received the ball in front of the Chelsea block, the defensive unit did not engage. Thus, passivity for the most part, with selective intensity.

City’s 4-3-3 shape on paper morphed into a 3-1-6 with the ball. To better illustrate how these positions altered when City had the ball in settled phases, they have been outlined in a 4-3-3. Chelsea formed a 5-2-3 defensive block, with the right winger joining the back line.

The home side had various plans to penetrate Chelsea’s defensive unit. Firstly, they tried creating central overloads against the opposition midfielders. However, the wide centre-back, Josh Acheampong, did well to time his jumps to prevent Reijnders from receiving comfortably between the lines.

City attempted to generate midfield overloads. However, Acheampong was brave and focused on diligently pushing high to match City.

There were also other ways City tried to create chances. As mentioned, Chelsea used a slightly high defensive line to compact the space between the lines and did not press City when they were positioned in front of the middle block. Hence, City forwards would attempt to play early chipped passes behind the defenders to find deep runs.

Furthermore, City could generate chances from side connections. Estêvão Willian started the game on the right wing with the responsibility of tracking back. However, he can be caught off guard since he is yet to develop into a defensively astute forward. Hence, City could test him, and it paid off a couple of times as they managed to play through on the side Estêvão was defending. McFarlane reacted in the 27th minute by switching him to the left wing, with Pedro Neto now given the role of tracking back on the right, which brought more defensive balance.

McFarlane switched the side the wingers were defending to give Chelsea more off-ball balance.

The visitors did well for the most part when defending from open play. However, they looked vulnerable during transitions. Some of these moments were self-inflicted, as they either lost possession during early build-up or carelessly in the middle third. They were almost punished a few times but were eventually made to pay, as an error from Badiashile resulted in a counter from which Reijnders scored.

Tijjani Reijnders smashes the ball into the roof of the net and Man City lead! 💢 pic.twitter.com/NajQ9CjQFc

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 4, 2026

McFarlane’s crucial substitution and tactical changes

Understandably disappointed with the first half, McFarlane made numerous changes at the break. Firstly, he brought on Andrey Santos, a natural defensive midfielder, for Estêvão, with the aim of adding more out-of-possession balance and physicality. This was needed, as Chelsea switched to a man-oriented press across the pitch rather than sitting back zonally – a proactive alteration.

There was also a subtle change in the full-back positions, as Acheampong and Gusto switched sides. This affected the way Chelsea built out from the back. For context, in the first half, Chelsea looked to build up in their usual 4-2-4 shape, while City pressed with a numerical deficit down their right side, with Cherki having a dual role. City’s aim was to force Chelsea down the stronger side, where they were locked into man-to-man situations.

City’s pressing roles in the first half against Chelsea.

By switching the full-backs for the second half, Gusto now pushed up Chelsea’s right side during early build-up, which he had previously been doing on the left. This change confused the City press, as they were used to having the -1 down the right side with Cherki, as mentioned earlier. As a result, it forced City into man-to-man situations and could also create wide overloads if Gvardiol did not track back or because he was occupied by João Pedro.

Chelsea’s tactical adjustment during build-up forced City into man-to-man situations defensively.

These changes might have been the reason why Guardiola was impressed with McFarlane’s performance. According to reports, there were further conversations between the pair after the game.

Pep Guardiola and Callum McFarlane, plus his staff, held a convo later on in the evening after the match. It’s understood that Pep complimented McFarlane tactically. #CFC pic.twitter.com/YdjDCVEDm8

— Max (@MaxLondonsFirst) January 5, 2026

All the adjustments paid off, as Chelsea enjoyed more possession in the second half compared to the first, which meant they had more time in settled possession phases to test City defensively. In a crucial moment towards the end of the game, the West Londoners were able to capitalise and equalise with a great run by Fernández at the far post, found by an accurate cross from Gusto.

Takeaways

Guardiola would have been frustrated with his team for not converting enough chances into goals in the first half, when they dominated. A one-goal margin is always dangerous, as the opposition still has a chance to get back into the game even late on, which is what happened against Chelsea. As for the visitors, a point in an away fixture against one of the best teams in the league, especially considering recent events, is a positive. Supporters will hope that this positivity can be carried forward into the remainder of the season, with everything still to fight for and the arrival of a new manager marking a fresh beginning.

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