A strong showing from Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium saw us match the reigning champions for long spells. Indeed we took the lead in the first half when former Manchester City player Raheem Sterling slotted past Ederson on the counter.

For a long time it looked like we might withstand the second-half pressure for a memorable win, but there was still plenty for Mauricio Pochettino to be proud of his players for despite Rodri's late equaliser for the home side.

‘Today was a great performance,' said Pochettino. 'We scored first and the first half was a very good game. I’m so pleased and I told the players this and congratulate them because the effort was massive.

'The spirit we showed today is the way we want to compete. With the talent we have in all the areas, we will reach the level we expect. I’m so pleased because to play a team that is the best in the world is never easy, and today the character and personality the team showed made me very happy.’

Mauricio felt Sterling was important to the performance at both ends of the pitch, in addition to his goal...

'His experience is important and an offensive player always needs to score to feel confident. He was working really hard for the team, defending well, he was always in the position to help the team and making the effort to be in a position to help the defensive line and Chilwell on the side.

'It was such an important performance. I am so happy he helped us get a good point in a good performance for us.'

Pochettino also insisted his players deserve all the credit as after all the planning, only they can go out and compete on the pitch...

'It's not about our capacity to prepare for the game, it is about the players delivering the job and playing to the level that we showed. They showed character today. All the coaching staff work to prepare the plan for the game, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t work, but always football is a game that belongs to the players and today the execution and of course the performance was down to them.

'We know very well how Manchester City play and here at the Etihad if you are not brave enough when you have the ball to force them to run back and make the effort it is going to be in the second half that you cannot leave your box or your own half.

'For us this was a really important game to keep the momentum, to realise that we are in a good way, improving. Still we are not at the level of Manchester City but that is our aim. We are a very young team that needs to live these kind of games to improve and to create the spirit that we need to show in every single game.

'Football is not only about quality, It is about being competitive and today the team began to show that we can be competitive also and play well.'