Guardiola rues Haaland's bad misses in stuttering 1-1 draw with Chelsea

Manchester City lost vital ground in the Premier League title race on a day when their rivals Liverpool and Arsenal went goal crazy.

Hours after Liverpool eased to a 4-1 win at Brentford and Arsenal thrashed Burnley 5-0, City were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw at home by Chelsea.

It could have been even worse for the champions had Rodri not cancelled out City old boy Raheem Sterling’s strike to salvage a point.

But it was all too much for Erling Haaland who had a shocker with a miss of the season contender, the Norwegian angrily pushing away a TV camera at full-time.

City manager Pep Guardiola was also fuming as he stormed down the tunnel with a face like thunder after a cursory handshake with Mauricio Pochettino.

It all leaves third-placed City trailing leaders Liverpool by four points with only the one game in hand, three weeks before they clash at Anfield.

‘The first half was not our levels and we were not in the right rhythm. And to compete against these teams you have to play 90 minutes, not just one half,’ said Guardiola. ‘But in the second half we were really good. We had chances. They [Liverpool and Arsenal] are incredible teams and will continue to be rivals.’

City can leapfrog Arsenal into second and cut Liverpool’s lead to one point by beating Brentford at the Etihad on Tuesday.

But Liverpool, with Mo Salah fit and back on the scoresheet against Brentford yesterday, would fully expect to be four points clear again 24 hours later when they host Luton.

‘We play Tuesday and we are going to try and get the points,’ added Guardiola. And the Spaniard is backing Haaland to be back on the scoresheet soon after a real off day against Chelsea. City managed 31 efforts against Pochettino’s side with Haaland wasting several of