Chelsea's stoppage-time equaliser against Manchester City on a freezing Sunday evening at Etihad Stadium felt a monumental moment in the Premier League title race. With time ticking away, Pep Guardiola's side were edging towards a ninth consecutive top-flight home victory as they aimed to maintain the pressure on leaders Arsenal. But City wilted late on by conceding to Enzo Fernandez's 94th-minute leveller, bundling in at the far post to leave the travelling fans delirious and the home faithful stunned at the final whistle.

Chelsea supporters celebrated an unlikely point wildly, during a tumultuous week in which manager Enzo Maresca departed the club, while City players' shoulders slumped, knowing they had dropped four crucial points in as many days. It means Arsenal have been handed a major boost by moving six points clear of both City and Aston Villa having made a statement of intent by thumping Unai Emery's side during the week and edging past Bournemouth on Saturday.

"I don't have a crystal ball to look at what will happen in the future," said Guardiola when asked about the title race. "The only thing I think [about] is recovering the players for Brighton on Wednesday. Of course we were closer. "We played an incredible second half at Sunderland and today we didn't get luck but we scored a goal. Being clinical is part of all the stats. You can create chances, our expected goals is higher than everyone, but you have to do it. As the manager I said to the team, we played really good against this team."

The mood inside the Etihad at full-time felt like one of deflation rather than the expected elation, as City failed to win successive games for only the second time this season. Guardiola's side are unbeaten in their past 10 games in all competitions, but the draws in their past two could be significant come the end of the season.

Arsenal are aiming for a first top-flight triumph in more than two decades, while City are looking to reclaim the crown having failed to win silverware last season - the results in the first week of 2026 feel important when considering where the title could end up.

Despite going ahead City could not hold on against a stubborn Chelsea side led by interim manager Calum McFarlane, the under-21s coach who was taking charge of his first senior game and denied Guardiola all three points. "It's a brilliant result for Chelsea, with no manager," former City goalkeeper Shay Given told BBC Sport. "And it is a brilliant result and week for Arsenal, who are now six points clear.

"City dropping four points in the last two games is huge at this time of the season. We always say Christmas and new year, with such a busy schedule, is so important and it's not been a great festive period for Manchester City."

Erling Haaland has had a prolific campaign scoring 38 goals for club and country this season, but he has now failed to net in his past three games, which has proved pivotal. The Norwegian was shackled for long periods by the Chelsea backline and struck the post in the first half, while in the second he had little joy as the home side looked to double their lead.

But they were unable to be clinical enough in the final third and Fernandez's late equaliser not only snatched a draw for Chelsea but ruined a clean sheet for City and handed the initiative to Arsenal. "Manchester City will be kicking themselves," ex-City defender Micah Richards said on Sky Sports. "They know they should've had three points today with the chances they created.

"They are normally more ruthless. You are looking at it thinking, 'what has changed?' Haaland's not scored in a few games, Phil Foden had near misses, Rayan Cherki looking very tricky but not the final product. They've only got themselves to blame today."

Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville added on Sky Sports: "Pep Guardiola could smell it. The City fans could smell it. I don't think Chelsea could though. City needed to make it 2-0.

"It was a big goal for Chelsea - and a big goal for Arsenal." City had last season ruined by a succession of injuries and they are stacking up once more, with Guardiola saying they now "have a lot" of players unavailable. Though midfielder Rodri provided a boost by making his first start in three months, defender John Stones has not played since 2 December and winger Oscar Bobb limped off against Brentford on the 17th, while midfielder Mateo Kovacic is out long-term.

Nico Gonzalez and Savinho missed the Chelsea game after suffering issues in the draw at the Stadium of Light this week - and the problems worsened on Sunday. Guardiola may be without his first-choice centre-back pairing of Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol, telling BBC Radio 5 Live "it doesn't look good" and the pair could be sidelined "for a few weeks". The Spaniard added: "John Stones is missing for I don't know how many months, now Ruben and Josko will be out.

"Nathan [Ake] cannot play regularly as we know. It happened last season and we will find a solution. The spirit will be there." City are closing in on the £65m signing of winger Antoine Semenyo from Bournemouth, and when asked if the club will be dipping into the transfer market for further additions, Guardiola replied: "I don't think so - but we'll see what happens." City host Brighton on Wednesday (19:30 GMT) in a critical game as they look to claw back ground on Arsenal and avoid falling further off the pace.