Jayden Braaf‘s 50th minute strike gave City what seemed like a comfortable lead, but late goals from Billy Gilmour and Marc Guehi meant the spoils were shared.
What happened
A City side going into the game on the back of two end-to-end matches, against a Chelsea team who hadn’t conceded so far this season made tonight’s game at the CFA a difficult one to predict.
Our attacking exuberance was there to be seen in the first half and it was complimented by a very well-organised defensive shape, created mostly by captain Tommy Doyle’s deeper position in front of the back four.
Doyle’s discipline allowed Jayden Braaf and Morgan Rogers to roam the wings with freedom, and the pair looked the most likely to break the deadlock in the first third of the game.
Adrian Bernabe’s through ball in the ninth minute was nicely weighted for Braaf to run on to and powerfully finish past Karlo Ziger, only to be denied by the linesman’s flag.
Seven minutes later, Rogers danced down the left wing before cutting in onto his right foot and bending a low effort off the far post.
Our pressure led to the opening goal five minutes before the break, when Fisayo Dele-Bashiru’s low cross from the left side of the box deflected off Marc Guehi and into the Chelsea captain’s own net.
Five minutes after half time our lead was doubled thanks to the same partnership as the early offside goal. This time Braaf held his line perfectly and raced away from the Chelsea defence to get on the end of Bernabe’s pass before slotting into the bottom left corner.
Julian Castillo came close to halving the deficit for the visitors, but Louie Moulden was alert and made a good save with his feet to deny the winger.
Billy Gilmour pulled one back for Chelsea in the 82nd minute from the penalty spot and gave the visitors an extra push going into the final moments of the game.
It seemed that Louie Moulden was going to be the hero five minutes before the end of the game, as he made a phenomenal save from Gilmour’s free kick, but it wasn’t enough to keep all three points for City, as Chelsea’s captain Marc Guehi made up for his earlier own goal with a late finish to make the scores level.
How we lined up
Louie Moulden started in goal, shielded by a back four of Jeremy Frimpong, Joel Latibaudiere, Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Tyreke Wilson.
Tommy Doyle captained the side in centre midfield, with Adrian Bernabe and Fisayo Dele-Bashiru in more advanced positions.
Jayden Braaf and Morgan Rogers flanked Nabil Touaizi up top.
What’s next
We travel to Liverpool on Saturday 31st August for a Premier League 2 clash with a 6PM kick-off time.
