Manchester City’s 3-1 victory over Chelsea secures top four

Manchester City came from behind to beat Chelsea 3-1 in the 2024-25 English Premier League on Saturday afternoon at the Etihad Stadium, climbing back into the top four for the first time since early November.

The visitors were in front in the third minute thanks to the quick actions of Senegalese forward Nicolas Jackson, who capitalised on a defensive blunder to set up Noni Madueke for the opener.

City defender Josko Gvardiol, however, restored parity before the break after latching on a rebound and burying the ball beyond the reach of Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez.

The hosts then took the lead in the 68th minute through Erling Haaland, as the City striker pounced on Ederson’s long ball on the right flank before expertly chipping Sanchez.

The Norwegian advanced his hopes of retaining the EPL Golden Boot with his 18th goal of the campaign, only one behind Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah.

As the Blues sent numbers forward in a desperate attempt to equalise, they were punished heavily by Pep Guardiola’s men three minutes from stoppage time.

Haaland set up the advancing Phil Foden, as the England midfielder made a brilliant solo run from the halfway line before slotting the ball home for City’s third.

Speaking after the game, Guardiola encouraged his side for getting over the line ahead of Wednesday’s decisive Champions League game.

“We weren’t exceptional, but we take the ball a lot and made a lot of passes,” said the City boss.

“They don’t know the movement of [Omar] Marmoush yet but in the situation, we are in a 3-1 win over Chelsea, and it is really important for us ahead of our final on Wednesday and the rest of the Premier League.”

Meanwhile, defeat condemned the Blues to sixth on the table with 40 points, a point behind fifth-placed Newcastle United.

Despite the loss, Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca was proud of his team’s progress.

He said, “In my opinion, we are a better team that one month ago or two months ago because in this kind of moment, these kind of games, for sure they are going to make us better because we need to live this experience.”

“I said two weeks ago, from now on, we can be third, we can be fourth, fifth or sixth…the games until the end [of the season] now can change [our position] a little bit.

“The good thing is that we are focused and we are trying to improve game after game.”

Chelsea’s next Premier League match will be on February 3 against West Ham United, and online bookmakers are paying $1.41 for the Blues to defeat the Hammers ($7.18).

Manchester City shift their attention to the Champions League on Wednesday, where the hosts are $1.18 favourites with the top soccer betting sites to beat Belgian champions Club Brugge.

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