It would have been easy for Pep Guardiola and Manchester City to think that this was a good time to face Chelsea. The London club had crashed in December, their Premier League form awful and the rising tensions between Enzo Maresca and the board would explode on New Year’s Eve.
There have not been many managerial changes on the very first day of a year and this one left Calum McFarlane, the club’s under-21 coach, thrust in as the interim manager. Never before had he taken charge of a single senior game.
McFarlane might not get another if Chelsea can, as they hope, appoint a permanent successor to Maresca before Wednesday’s derby at Fulham. Strasbourg’s Liam Rosenior, their No 1 target, flew to London on Sunday for final talks. But McFarlane can look back with pride and maybe a touch of amazement on his moment in the spotlight as Chelsea held their own with City before stunning them with a stoppage-time Enzo Fernández equaliser.
The first thing to say is that the goal to rock City’s title aspirations and have Guardiola screaming at the heavens was not a bolt from the blue. McFarlane made smart substitutions, the introduction of the former City striker Liam Delap being one, and Chelsea were pushing. Another former City player, Cole Palmer, might have done better with an 89th-minute side-foot; he did not get the contact he wanted and there were nerves among the City support when the board went up to show six additional minutes.
