Manchester City have been made to wait for the Premier League title after Chelsea fought back to earn a 2-1 win at the Etihad on Saturday.
Raheem Sterling’s first-half goal put Man City within 45 minutes of being confirmed as champions, but a Sergio Aguero penalty miss proved crucial as Chelsea rallied after the break to take all three points courtesy of Hakim Ziyech and Marcos Alonso.
The game may have been viewed as a Champions League Final dress rehearsal before the two sides meet on May 29, but there was plenty to play for at the Etihad despite much-changed lineups from Pep Guardiola and Thomas Tuchel.
A win would have confirmed City as champions, while Chelsea headed to Manchester needing points in a tight battle for a top-four finish.
City were greeted by a huge gathering of fans as they arrived at the Etihad Stadium for the game against Chelsea in which they hoped to clinch the title.
As they did for the Champions League semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain in midweek, hundreds of supporters lined the street leading up to the ground as the coaches carrying the players drove past.
City took the lead just before half-time as Gabriel Jesus shrugged off Andreas Christensen to break into the area.
He squared looking for Aguero but, although the Argentinian’s touch was poor, Sterling was on hand to tuck home.
Aguero spurned a great chance to double City’s lead moments later after Billy Gilmour clumsily bundled Jesus over in the area to concede a penalty – but his attempted Panenka offered Edouard Mendy a simple save.
That penalty miss proved costly as Chelsea dominated the game after the break, and equalised just after the hour when Rodri lost possession on the halfway line.
The visitors broke down the right and Cesar Azpilicueta picked out Hakim Ziyech just outside the area, who drilled a low shot into the bottom corner.
Timo Werner had the ball in the City net in both halves, but was flagged offside for each – and substitute Callum Hudson-Odoi also suffered the same fate after a tight VAR call.
However, Chelsea were not left to rue those chances as Werner teed up Alonso for a late scuffed finish in injury time to secure an impressive win.
City will have to wait a little longer for the title, while Chelsea recovered to take a huge step towards Champions League qualification.