Manchester City's Mateo Kovacic accused of celebrating a late equaliser for Chelsea

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The Manchester City midfielder spent five years at Stamford Bridge before leaving to join the champions

Manchester City midfielder #08 Mateo Kovacic warms up ahead of the English Premier League football match between Chelsea and Manchester City at Stamford Bridge in London on November 12, 2023.
(Image credit: Glyn KIRK / IKIMAGES / AFP)

A thrilling 4-4 draw between Chelsea and Manchester City offered up plenty of drama and entertainment yesterday afternoon.

One of the Premier League’s craziest games in recent memory might just have got a little bit weirder with online speculation that Mateo Kovacic celebrated one of the goals against his team.

According to some Man City supporters on X, formerly known as Twitter, Kovacic can be seen doing a fist-pump after Cole Palmer’s late equaliser from the penalty spot.

The Croatian midfielder spent five years at Chelsea, making more than 200 appearances for the club, before joining Man City in June.

The highlight of Kovacic’s time at Stamford Bridge was winning the Champions League against Pep Guardiola’s side in 2021 and some seem to think that his allegiance still lies with Chelsea.

Mateo Kovacic

Mateo Kovacic enjoyed many happy years in the capital (Image credit: PA Images)

City looked set for victory at the end of a pulsating game but Ruben Dias brought down Armando Broja in the box and Palmer slotted home from the spot deep into injury time.

Palmer impressed throughout the match and kept his nerve under pressure to beat Ederson and rescue a point for the hosts.

Erling Haaland of Manchester City celebrates with Phil Foden after scoring his side's third goal during the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Manchester City at Stamford Bridge on November 12, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images)

Chelsea 4-4 Manchester City was one of the craziest games of the season (Image credit: Getty Images)

The 21-year-old, who has just been called up to the England squad for the first time, evidently relished playing against his former teammates and showing Guardiola what he’s capable of.

In contrast, Kovacic’s response to Palmer’s goal is being interpreted as a sign of loyalty to Chelsea and branded disrespectful to his current employers.

In truth, the gesture is barely perceptible as Kovacic strides back into position ready for the game to resume but that hasn’t stopped the speculation.

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Sean Cole
Sean Cole
Writer

Sean Cole is a freelance journalist. He has written for FourFourTwo, BBC Sport and When Saturday Comes among others. A Birmingham City supporter and staunch Nikola Zigic advocate, he once scored a hat-trick at St. Andrew’s (in a half-time game). He also has far too many football shirts and spends far too much time reading the Wikipedia pages of obscure players.