Pep Guardiola refused to blame Erling Haaland for wasting chances after Manchester City were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw by Chelsea on Saturday.
The normally prolific Haaland spurned a number of opportunities, including one glaring free header from six yards out, as the champions were held in a compelling Premier League clash at the Etihad Stadium.
City ultimately needed an 83rd-minute equaliser from Rodri to rescue a point after their former forward Raheem Sterling had put the Londoners on course for an unexpected win with a 43rd-minute effort.
City manager Guardiola said: “It’s good to have nine shots and next time he’s going to score.
“I was a football player for 11 years and scored 11 goals. What stats! One goal a season. I’m not a proper man to give advice to strikers.
“We create the chances; he had the chances and next time he’s going to score. I don’t blame him. It’s football, it’s human beings.”
Haaland looked frustrated at the end of the game and pushed away a TV camera, but it has been a difficult week for the Norway international after the death of his grandmother.
The result left City four points off the top of the table in third place, after title rivals Liverpool and Arsenal won earlier in the day.
City dominated the second half, but Guardiola felt they paid the price for a poor first-half display.
Guardiola said: “As a team and a group, the first half was not like we are.
“The demands are so high because no-one is going to give it to us, we have to do everything. We are Man City, so we have to do it for ourselves all the time.
“We had to improve the first half and the second half was unbelievable, how we played and how we made transitions.
“In general, it was really good after we conceded from Raheem but when we play teams with composure and prestige of Chelsea you have to perform at your best for 95 minutes.”
Chelsea’s season has been one of inconsistency, but manager Mauricio Pochettino felt they showed their true character against strong opposition.
Pochettino said: “We tried to prepare, all the coaching staff, to make the plan for the game but football is always a game that belongs to the players and today the execution and the performance was from them. They showed character.
“It was a really important game for us to keep the momentum to realise we are in a good way and improving.
“Still we are not at the level of Man City but that is our aim.
“We need to live this type of game to improve and to create the spirit we need. We show in every single game we want to be competitive.”
Sporting Kansas City v Minnesota United: Ramsay aiming to regain momentum after 'dent'
Eric Ramsay is hopeful Minnesota United's latest defeat has not dented their momentum as they prepare to travel to Sporting Kansas City in MLS.
Minnesota have won two and lost two of their last four MLS matches, with those two victories both coming on the road.
They are ninth in the Western Conference after losing to FC Cincinnati in their last outing, failing to mount a comeback after two first-half goals from their visitors.
Ramsay was slightly disappointed by the result but is determined to take the positives from that game as they continue their playoff push.
"We showed some naivety [against Cincinnati] with the goals we conceded, but the game as a whole was largely very good," he said.
"We went toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the whole division. We have to take that as a positive and use that as a step forward, as a continuation of the momentum that we've built so far and not let it dent what we've already done."
Meanwhile, Sporting are 12th in the league, having lost just one of their last five league matches.
They beat Colorado Rapids 4-1 last time out, with Alan Pulido netting a brace, and head coach Peter Vermes was delighted to see him getting in on the goals.
"Alan has this level in him and has great form over the past two months, but we're playing him in better places on the field," Vermes said. "We haven't found enough chances to get him in on goal, and we need to keep improving that.
"The good thing is that we have options, we're not stuck. We're limitless right now, we have a lot of different ways in which we can put different combinations of players on the field."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Sporting KC – Alan Pulido
Pulido scored twice in Kansas City's win over Colorado on Wednesday, his seventh multi-goal game for Sporting.
The only two players in club history with more multi-goal regular season games are Dom Dwyer (10) and Digital Takawira (eight).
Minnesota United – Kelvin Yeboah
Kelvin Yeboah scored from the penalty spot on Wednesday, with three of his four goals this season have been via penalty kicks.
Yeboah is the fourth player to have 3+ penalty kick goals in a season for Minnesota, with Darwin Quintero being the only Loons player with more (four in 2019).
MATCH PREDICTION: SPORTING KANSAS CITY WIN
Sporting KC have won 10 of their 11 all-time home matches against Minnesota, including the last four in a row. Minnesota's lone result at Sporting was a 3-0 victory in the 2020 playoffs.
Indeed, Kansas City have won three straight home matches across all competitions, with all three victories coming by multiple goals. This is the first time Sporting have won three straight home games, all by 2+ goals, since a four-game run to start the 2019 season.
However, after going winless in eight straight on the road (D2 L6), Minnesota have recorded back-to-back wins away from home. The longest road winning streak in club history in all competitions is three matches, achieved in both 2022 and 2023.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Sporting KC – 46.8%
Draw – 26.4%
Minnesota United – 26.8%
Dream debut: Dixon shines with goal, assist on debut for Charlton U21s in 3-2 win over Watford
Reggae Boy Kaheim Dixon was on the scoresheet in his debut for Charlton Athletic U21s in a 3-2 win over Watford at Vicarage Road on Friday.
Charlton took the lead after just two minutes through a goal from Henry Rylah before Watford got their equalizer through Mamadou Doumbia a minute later.
The 19-year-old Dixon, who joined the League One club from Arnett Gardens in August, then capitalized from a defensive mistake by Watford to put his team up 2-1.
Charlton then went two goals clear thanks to Mile Leaburn, who was assisted by Dixon.
Doumbia got his second goal of the game to finish the scoring at 3-2.
Charlton U21s now have 19 points in seven games in the Professional Development League.
The win strengthens lead atop the table to six points.
They will next take on Brentford U21s on October 1.
Alcaraz beaten on Laver Cup debut with Zverev in doubles
Carlos Alcaraz suffered defeat on his Laver Cup debut, as he was beaten in straight sets alongside Alexander Zverev in doubles by Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton.
Team Europe put up a strong fight but struggled to match Fritz and Shelton, who won 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 in one hour and 37 minutes.
Alcaraz and Zverev made a slow start to the match, losing their serve in the fourth game as the Americans went on a three-game winning streak, but they pulled it back to level the tie, only to lose the tie-break.
Team Europe looked to have found their groove in the second set but failed to convert four break points in the fourth game as Fritz and Shelton levelled the score at 2-2.
A three-game winning run at the end of the set, including one more break, was enough to get Team World over the line, pulling them back to 2-2 at the end of day one.
Francisco Cerundolo had originally given Team World the lead with a shock win over Casper Ruud before Stefanos Tsitsipas and Grigor Dimitrov's wins had put Team Europe 2-1 up.
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