Chelsea manager, Mauricio Pochettino has hailed his team for a “proud” performance in a 4-4 draw against Manchester City.
Man City had taken a 25th minute lead through Erling Haaland’s penalty but Chelsea fought back through Thiago Silva and Raheem Sterling, only for Manuel Akanji and Haaland to put City back in front until Nicolas Jackson pulled the Blues level.
Rodri looked to had won City the game with a 86th minute deflected strike until Cole Palmer converted a 95th minute penalty to snatch the hosts an unlikely 4-4 draw, having won the spot kick after Ruben Dias had fouled Armando Broja.
“I am very proud, so happy,’ commented Pochettino on Chelsea’s draw as he applauded his players for an “amazing” performance.
Pochettino proceeded to praise his squad for how they took the game to City but iterated that there is room for improvement, as he continued: “We faced a team that for me is the best team in the world.
“There were too many circumstances that happened during the game that made me very proud, because the way that we managed the game was really good.
“Of course there are always things to improve but it is a process. It is a journey where we want to build a project from zero. This type of experience and games are very important and will improve a lot our players and our team, but now we need to use it and translate into the future.
“We are still far away from where we want to be, but this is the process. That is a different moment during this period, but of course this type of performance we need to use for the future.”
The draw put Chelsea tenth in the table heading into the international break but nine points off fifth-placed Aston Villa.
Pochettino though has urged caution from supporters as to the prospect of fighting for European qualification this season, as he added: “We are going step by step, but maybe we can jump two steps.
“But we need caution because today was a massive motivation and the fans and the crowd were amazing supporting us.”
Chelsea also managed to produce more shots than City which Pochettino believes is a demonstration of their “mentality,” and “character,” to challenge top teams toe-to-toe with creativity.
Their 4-4 draw also marked the first time that Chelsea have scored at least four goals in consecutive league games since May 2017, having beaten Tottenham last Monday (6 November) in a controversial clash.
Pochettino consequently reflected upon what these results meant for the team now as he quipped that this was “…the starting point to start to build our confidence and believe more in the way that we are working.
“After today, now it is about translating into the way that we are going to compete in the future in this way.”
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