**Pep Guardiola was quite pleased with his side’s display in their 1-1 draw with Chelsea on Sunday evening despite Manchester City losing further ground in the title race.**
City are now six points adrift of league leaders Arsenal after dropping four points in four days, having also played out a goalless draw against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on New Year’s Day.
Arsenal maintained their momentum this weekend by keeping Bournemouth at bay and protecting a slim lead to come away from the south coast with all three points courtesy of a 3-2 win at the Vitality Stadium, with Declan Rice scoring a second-half brace.
Guardiola’s side face Brighton at the Etihad Stadium next up in the Premier League, with little margin for error for the Blues in the remainder of the title race if they are to win a fifth Premier League title in six seasons.
City took a 42nd minute lead against Chelsea on Sunday as Tijjani Reijnders continued his fine run of form by notching his fifth Premier League goal of the campaign. The Blues missed a series of clear goalscoring chances to extend their advantage either side of the opener, with Erling Haaland notably hitting the post in the first-half.
Chelsea fought valiantly in the second-half and the visitors’ efforts were rewarded deep in added time as Enzo Fernandez’s scruffy finish at the back post beat Gianluigi Donnarumma to salvage a significant point for the west Londoners in the north-west.
However, Guardiola was not overly dissatisfied with his side’s performance against Chelsea as he reflected on a second draw in four days in conversation with BBC Sport after the game.
“It’s not about expected goals or what you could have,” Guardiola said. “When you talk about all the stats, all the departments that we can analyse, one is how effective you are in the final third! But in general, how we defended, how we ran, how we played – it was extraordinary!”
Adding on his verdict on the game in his post-match press conference, Guardiola added: “We managed quite well the first-half. In the second, they had two chances because we lost two balls.
“But we missed just with the talented players in the end, two against one, three against two, and didn’t create much. We were extraordinary in all departments, except we could not score the second, or the third, or the fourth that we had in the first and second-half.
“Of course, in the second-half, we made a step up. (In) the first-half, they (Chelsea) were a little bit more cautious, second-half nothing to lose, and at the end they found their reward.”
Guardiola and City can return to winning ways in midweek as they welcome Brighton to the Etihad Stadium in a must-win clash, with Arsenal establishing a healthy advantage at the top of the Premier League at the weekend.