There are times that come few and far between that the international break actually feels about right for football. The Premier League has earned this one.

For the final time in 2023, international fixtures split up the calendar but on this occasion there can be few complaints. Chelsea alone have been involved in games with 13 goals in the past week, West Ham have had back-to-back 3-2 wins and VAR needs a rest.

It is, then, off the back of four points against the league's top two, that Chelsea enter the fortnight off from domestic duty. Still in tenth place and nine points behind Aston Villa in fifth but with a renewed sense of feeling. Mauricio Pochettino's side have embraced a torrid run of games and, dare it be said, are starting to win some over.

"It is really satisfying to go to an international break with this feeling," the boss said on Instagram after the game. "Although I prefer we have another game more sooner!" The fans might not echo that sentiment for once after being put through the ringer emotionally in the past week.

This time it was Manchester City in town, the toughest test there is, and Chelsea rose to the moment. Having not scored against their opponents since Kai Havertz's Champions League winning goal in 2021 they fired four past Pep Guardiola's men, the first time he has conceded over three in a game since Pochettino's Tottenham did it in 2019.

Here's how an all-time Premier League classic went down with the national media.

The Guardian

Jonathan Liew writes: "What constitutes success amid the permanent concussion of post-Abramovich Chelsea? Top four? A sense of stylistic progress? An unchanged starting XI?

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"In this respect, it was tempting to suggest that these 104 minutes of football changed little: for all the thrills and plot twists, the deflections and the chaotic counterattacks and the 20-yard slide tackles in the teeming rain.

"We knew that Chelsea thrive against opponents who give them space to run into; that they remain barely competent at defending the areas around their penalty box. That they are capable of producing moments of sublime quality and moments of abject calamity, and as you scan the barcode on your ticket you have no idea of knowing which will prevail.

"It was a game that defied narrative, a game that both teams led and then neither did, a game you wanted to inhale even as it sucked all the air out of your lungs. And yet by the end, something vital and important had changed here, at least for Chelsea.

"Perhaps it was the sight of Mauricio Pochettino screaming at the fourth official as the final whistle blew, his eyes wild and dancing, his hair sodden and skewed, as if he had missed the team bus and been forced to swim the last two miles.

"For much of his time at Chelsea, Pochettino has sought to paint himself as the professional face of this runaway football club, the sanity amid the chaos. Here, instead, he looked like a man finally beginning to feel something again."

The Evening Standard

Matt Verri writes: "Pep Guardiola admitted his Manchester City side could have "no complaints" after Chelsea earned a thrilling draw, as he pointed to the difficulties other top sides have had at Stamford Bridge this season.

"Cole Palmer scored a stoppage-time penalty against his former club as it finished 4-4 at Stamford Bridge, the second epic encounter involving Chelsea in less than a week after their chaotic win over Tottenham."

He adds: "They are a really good team so there's no doubt," Guardiola told Sky Sports. "Liverpool couldn't win. They were much, much better than Arsenal and in the end, Arsenal drew. So you know, it's Chelsea, they won't go away."

The Daily Star

Patrick Austen-Hardy writes: "With Chelsea struggling for form and Manchester City finding their groove, few eyebrows would have been raised if the Blues sat back and looked to counter the champions. While enjoying more possession, Chelsea's frontline looked to press the City midfielders in the central areas and force them all the way back to Ederson.

"City often find themselves exchanging short passes 30-yards from the opposition goal, but the Blues did not allow them to maintain that much control. It is a sign of the growing confidence at Stamford Bridge, after one of the worst seasons in Chelsea history last year."