Cole Palmer netted a stoppage-time penalty against his former club Manchester City to rescue a point for Chelsea in a pulsating, eight-goal Premier League classic at Stamford Bridge.
Palmer, who swapped his boyhood club for Chelsea in the summer, held his nerve to beat Ederson as Mauricio Pochettino's side came from behind for a third time in a breathless game.
Manchester City had appeared on course to move three points clear after Rodri's deflected strike put them 4-3 up in the 86th minute, but Palmer's penalty, awarded after Ruben Dias had fouled substitute Armando Broja, provided one final twist.
Earlier, the game had erupted when Erling Haaland struck the opening goal, also from the spot, after Marc Cucurella was controversially found to have fouled the Norwegian following a lengthy VAR check.
Image: Erling Haaland scored twice for Man City, his first a controversial penalty
The sense of injustice fuelled a ferocious Chelsea response as goals from Thiago Silva and Raheem Sterling, the latter also playing against his former club, put them ahead before Manuel Akanji's header brought City level again shortly before half-time.
Haaland slid home his second and City's third straight after the restart and a thrilling game continued to ebb and flow, with Jackson tucking home a loose ball for Chelsea's third goal before the two sides traded blows once more, first through Rodri and then through Palmer, to round off a sensational spectacle.
The draw means City move a single point clear of Arsenal and Liverpool at the top of the table while Chelsea, only five days on from playing out another classic against Tottenham, move up a place to 10th, albeit with hope of bigger things to come.
Chelsea came into the game having not beaten - or even scored a goal against - Manchester City in six attempts but their determination to change the record was clear from the outset.
Pochettino had said his side were no underdogs and that message had clearly got through to his players, whose intensity and aggression seemed to surprise City, with Palmer seeing an early shot blocked and Conor Gallagher firing straight at Ederson.
It went from bad to worse for the hosts straight after half-time when Cucurella got caught out at left-back, allowing Julian Alvarez to slide the ball across goal for Haaland to bundle it over the line ahead of the otherwise excellent Reece James.
That goal felt like a sucker-punch for Chelsea but they rallied again, this time through Jackson, as the striker reacted sharply to tuck home the loose ball after Ederson could only parry Gallagher's long-range effort back into the danger area.
Rodri slammed Manchester City back in front at Chelsea
That goal came after a brilliant solo effort from the excellent Palmer, who was determined to impress against his former club, and there was a glorious chance for Malo Gusto too, the substitute blazing over when played in by Sterling on the right.
It seemed the full-back's miss would prove costly when Rodri's long-range effort bounced in off Thiago Silva for City's fourth goal, but somehow Chelsea fought back again, Palmer's penalty, dispatched nervelessly, clinching a deserved point.
Cole Palmer converted his penalty to secure a point for Chelsea
Player ratings
Chelsea: Sanchez (7), James (8), Disasi (6), Silva (7), Cucurella (5), Fernandez (7), Caicedo (7), Gallagher (8), Sterling (8), Palmer (8), Jackson (8).
Subs: Mudryk (6), Gusto (6), Broja (7), Ugochukwu (n/a).
Man City: Ederson (7), Walker (6), Akanji (7), Dias (5), Gvardiol (5), Rodri (8), Bernardo (6), Doku (6), Foden (8), Alvarez (7), Haaland (8).
Subs: Grealish (6), Kovacic (6).
Player of the match: Cole Palmer
Team news
Chelsea: Marc Cucurella came into the side in place of the absent Levi Colwill while Raheem Sterling and Cole Palmer started against their former club.
Man City: Jeremy Doku returned to the starting line-up while Manuel Akanji came in for the injured John Stones in defence.
City carried a threat of their own, however, with Josko Gvardiol heading too close to Robert Sanchez from a corner and Julian Alvarez seeing an angled shot charged down by Cucurella, who was then penalised for City's spot kick only minutes later.
WHAT THE MANAGERS SAID
Mauricio Pochettino:
Mauricio Pochettino says Chelsea's 4-4 draw with Manchester City showed why the Premier League is the best league in the world
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino was delighted with his side's display, saying: "Very proud and so happy. The players deserve praise because of the performance.
"We faced a team that for me is the best in the world. Many circumstances happened during the game that made me very proud. The way we managed the game was really good.
"Of course, a lot of things to improve, but it's the process. When you start a project from zero, these types of experiences and games will improve you a lot. Now we need to use it and translate it towards the future.
"You face a team like City but it was Chelsea who wanted to win, to be protagonist. I think, after, everyone is so proud to be involved in a game like today. It shows why the Premier League is the best league in the world.
He added: "[The performance] showed the character, showed the mentality, showed also that we have proved against a team like Man City that we can go for the goal, dominate and have the capacity to create chances. I think that's really important today."
Guardiola:
"A good advert for the league"
Pep Guardiola says he has no regrets after his side's thrilling 4-4 draw with Chelsea, which he described as a 'fair result'
Man City boss Pep Guardiola told Sky Sports: "A good advert for the Premier League. Quality players, ability to keep the ball, to drive with the ball many metres so you have to defend deep.
"But in general we are really pleased. Nothing to regret, we did everything, we could do better, some mistakes but they happen when the opponent bring you in these conditions, the high level...
"We were close but eight minutes extra time is a lot of time and I think it's a result [where] we have our momentum, especially winning 3-2 and having two or three transitions that could, not kill the game because still 30 minutes to play, but in that moment we were close. It was control and after we made some bad decisions or good decisions for them and we draw."
He added: "What's important is we go into the international break top of the league. I couldn't expect that after that Arsenal game when we lost. We are qualified for the Champions League, where we are top of the league.
"Where we came from, wow, that is really, really good. Now they can rest, come back fit and the next games are really, really tough."
Opta stats
In his 882nd game as a manager across all competitions, this was the first time that Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola saw his side both score and concede 4+ in the same match.
This was only the fifth match in Premier League history to see as many as four equalising goals scored, after Everton v Leeds in October 1999, Charlton v West Ham in November 2001, Tottenham v Reading in December 2007, and Liverpool v Arsenal in April 2009.
This was the first time Chelsea both scored and conceded 4+ goals in a league game since March 2008 v Tottenham (4-4), the first time Man City did so since January 1961 v Arsenal (4-5).
Rodri scored his third Premier League goal of the season, surpassing his tally last term in the competition (2). Nine of his 17 Premier League goals have given Man City the lead in a game.
Chelsea's Thiago Silva became only the fourth different player to score a Premier League goal while aged 39 or older, along with Teddy Sheringham, Dean Windass, and Ryan Giggs.
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