Watch Reece James’ lovely gesture to Manchester City star while Chelsea were 1-0 down

Reece James showed a moment of real class during Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with Manchester City on Sunday.

James and Chelsea had every reason to be frustrated at the Etihad before their equaliser in stoppage time.

Calum McFarlane’s side played very well, but it was City who took the lead through Tijjani Reijnders.

Liam Delap has made a real impact off the bench!

However, that did not stop James from showing an act of kindness towards one of his opponents on the day.

Reece James helped an injured Josko Gvardiol off the pitch

City defender Josko Gvardiol had to be taken off early in the second half because of an injury.

With Chelsea chasing the game, you could not have blamed James for being annoyed and leaving Gvardiol on the ground. Instead, though, he helped the 23-year-old off the pitch, a moment caught by BBC Sport journalist Nizaar Kinsella, who posted about it on X.

After the full-time whistle, James also made sure that the Chelsea supporters showed their appreciation to McFarlane.

McFarlane is in temporary charge of the Blues following Enzo Maresca’s exit last week and was the mastermind behind Sunday’s comeback.

He made some decisive tactical tweaks and substitutions in the second half that helped Chelsea to draw the game, including the introduction of Andrey Santos.

Reece James and Josko Gvardiol could have been teammates

Before Gvardiol’s move from RB Leipzig to City in 2023, Chelsea showed heavy interest in the Croatian.

At one stage, it was even claimed that Chelsea were close to signing Gvardiol, meaning that the Blues could have had a backline including the Croatia international and James.

Those two alone would have made Chelsea’s defence an incredible one, but City ended up being Gvardiol’s destination instead.

Winning one Premier League title since arriving at the Etihad, Gvardiol will have no regrets about joining City. As for Chelsea, the former Leipzig star is, quite clearly, one that got away. There are not too many defenders like him in the Premier League right now, with Gvardiol being capable of scoring goals.