Rodri’s late goal salvaged a 1-1 Premier League draw for Manchester City against Chelsea on Saturday as the champions narrowly avoided their first home loss in 15 months.
Pep Guardiola’s team, unbeaten in their last nine league games, remained third in the table on 53 points, four behind leaders Liverpool and two adrift of Arsenal, but with a game in hand.
“We weren’t great in the first half,” Rodri told Sky Sports. “We conceded another easy goal. We knew about their counter-attacks and fast players, but we have to defend the counter-attack better. From there, it’s always more difficult to come back,” he added.
“We (defended better) in the second half… more spirit, we wanted the ball and wanted to take risks. You have to be brave.”
City’s decision to park in Chelsea’s half proved costly as Nicolas Jackson’s deft flick began a counter-attack in the 42nd minute. He sent a perfect pass behind the defence to Raheem Sterling, who rounded City defender Kyle Walker and curled the ball past keeper Ederson to score against his former team.
“We countered them well so I think it is a fair result in the end,” Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher told Sky. “(The second half was) really hard. The lads were brilliant and defensively we were very focused. We were very tired but we saw it through and we are happy with the performance.”
After numerous near-misses that had the City fans holding their heads in frustration, Rodri equalised in the 83rd minute after Walker’s shot was blocked with a thunderous shot that deflected off Trevoh Chalobah into the net.
The draw sees City drop to third in the table, four points behind leaders Liverpool but with a game in hand – they can close the gap, and leapfrog second-placed Arsenal, if they beat Brentford here on Tuesday.
Chelsea, who were minutes away from a third successive away win, stay 10th, but head to Wembley for next weekend’s Carabao Cup final on the back of one of their best displays of an erratic campaign.