Man City held by Chelsea in major title blow

It was City's spluttering attempt to stop Arsenal running away with the title that took the spotlight as they fell six points behind the Gunners.

After Arsenal's 3-2 win at Bournemouth on Saturday, Pep Guardiola's second-placed side had no margin for error against troubled opponents at the Etihad Stadium.

Yet they stumbled in painful fashion as Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez equalised deep into stoppage-time to cancel out Tijjani Reijnders' 42nd-minute opener.

Just days after Chelsea parted company with boss Enzo Maresca, the Blues were managed by Under-21 coach Calum McFarlane.

McFarlane will never forget his first senior match as a manager after frustrating the decorated Guardiola.

But despite the damage McFarlane inflicted on Guardiola's title dreams, Strasbourg boss Liam Rosenior remains the leading candidate to replace Maresca on a permanent basis.

"Chelsea is a world champion team. It is not academy players there. Top class players. So to have control for 90 minutes against a team is so, so difficult," Guardiola said.

"We missed chances in the second half. Our talented players tried to finish the game but we could not do that."

City, who host Brighton on Wednesday, have gone two games without a win following their 0-0 draw at Sunderland on January 1.