Erling Haaland beating VAR challenge enhances staggering Man City record vs Chelsea

Manchester City and Chelsea played out a true Premier League classic at Stamford Bridge. An end-to-end thriller in the west London rain ended 4-4, with former City stars Raheem Sterling and Cole Palmer coming back to haunt the Blues.

Erling Haaland's early penalty, controversially given for a pull on him by Marc Cucurella, gave City a 24th-minute lead. Chelsea came roaring back to take the lead through goals from Thiago Silva and Sterling before Manuel Akanji's header made it 2-2 at the break.

The breathless action continued in the second half - Haaland's second put City's noses back in front but Nicolas Jackson's close-range finish levelled things up. City thought they'd taken the points when Rodri's deflected shot gave them a 4-3 lead in the dying minutes, but Ruben Dias' rash challenge on Armando Broja gave Chelsea an injury-time penalty, which was coolly dispatched by Palmer.

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The draw means that City go into the international break one point clear of Liverpool and Arsenal at the top of the table. Tyrone Marshall was at Stamford Bridge and brings us his big talking points from a thrilling match ...

Erling Haaland's well-taken first-half penalty means he has now scored against 19 of the 21 teams he has faced in the Premier League, with Liverpool and Brentford the only sides to avoid a dagger from the Norwegian so far. In fairness, he only played once against each of those sides last season.

It speaks to Haaland's remarkable consistency and he now has 68 goals in 71 games for the club. The debate around his penalty will stoke more fury at a time when VAR is under the microscope more than ever before.

Critics will claim it was soft