Summary
In a game that sprung to life after a first half
of limited opportunities, Chelsea were left to rue a saved Frank Lampard
penalty when Yaya Toure gave the home side the lead soon after. Substitute
Carlos Tevez sealed the result with a late strike.
Manchester City came the closer to finding the
net in the first half, Petr Cech and a series of blocks by the Chelsea defence
with Gary Cahill to the fore keeping Roberto Mancini's men at bay.
There was more threat to Chelsea's play in the
more open second half but we continued to look vulnerable to City's attacking
moves, although had Lampard found the net when Demba Ba was fouled in the area
shortly after the break, the home team's confidence after their recent shaky
run of results might have been in question.
Instead it took a good strike to open the scoring
at the other end and from that moment on the points looked destined to go to
the second-placed side. Chelsea remain in third but one point ahead of
Tottenham who play away at West Ham tomorrow.
Team news
Ashley Cole returned to the side and made his
300th Chelsea appearance. David Luiz played in central defence for the first
time since the home draw against Southampton last month. Cahill partnered the
Brazilian and with John Terry on the bench, the returning Lampard was captain.
Ramires was asked to start wide in an attacking
role, up against Man City left-back Gael Clichy, with Eden Hazard on the Chelsea
left flank. Ba led the attack.
Man City captain Vincent Kompany was unfit so
Kolo Toure and Matija Nastasic were their central defence. Sergio Aguero was
the most central striker with Yaya Toure and David Silva playing in advanced
positions.
First half
The Stamford Bridge meeting between these sides,
Rafael Benitez's first game in charge of Chelsea, had been a stalemate and the
first 45 minutes of this encounter followed a similar pattern.
In a measured opening by both sides, the first
attack of promise from Chelsea came when Hazard passed wide to Ba, who won a
corner. Man City's early threat was mostly from the mobile Yaya Toure,
operating primarily wide on the left in the early stages. A very early shot
from the Ivorian had been too tame to worry Cech.
Man City won a 13th minute corner after Hazard
had given the ball away in trying to play out from the back and Silva's
delivery was met by the head of Nastasic. Cech, with little time to react, did
very well to block it on his line. Aguero was offside as he tried to follow up.
That began a spell of sustained pressure by the
home side. Cahill blocked a shot from Yaya Toure and then another shortly after
from Rodwell. Then, after the ball had been lost in midfield, Silva's pass
allowed Aguero to spring forward but although he took the ball past Cech, he
also took it over the by-line for a goal kick.
Ramires in action against Man City
Chelsea improved around the midway point in the
half and forced Man City onto the back foot for the first time in the game, but
couldn't test Joe Hart. Lampard was well off-target with a 30-yard free-kick.
Rodwell, who had earlier escaped a booking for a
foul on Ramires, was the first to go into the book for pulling down Ivanovic by
the touchline.
There was a promising move down the left
involving Hazard and Mata but the Spaniard was tackled inside the City area. As
the home team broke, Ramires fouled Yaya Toure at the expense of a yellow card.
One of the best moves of the half cut the Chelsea
defence open as Milner found Aguero's run in behind Ivanovic, but when Zabaleta
powerfully volleyed the cross at goal, Cahill headed it away. The Chelsea
defender was making a habit of being in the right place at the right time this
afternoon.
City were looking for a goal before the break and
Cech twice denied Rodwell in the space of a minute; the first time tipping a
shot over and then catching a header from the corner that followed.
John Mikel Obi in action against Man City
Zabaleta was booked for a trip on Cole. The
first-half foul count was Man City 13, Chelsea 1.
Just before the break, the tenacious Hazard broke
free of a challenge and then tricked his way into space but when he played a
pass on to Ramires in the box, the Brazilian couldn't get the better of Clichy.
The goalless first half came to an end moments later.
Second half
Twice in the first two minutes after the break,
Man City got in behind the right-hand side of the Chelsea defence. Aguero, from
the second cross, made good contact with a difficult volley with his back to
goal but thankfully the shot went wide.
On 49 minutes Hazard struck Chelsea's first shot
on target in the game. Hart, with time to watch it, saved low down.
On 51 minutes came one of the game's big moments.
Ivanovic struck a diagonal pass into the area and as Ba took it wide on the
outside of Hart, the keeper brought the Chelsea man down. Kolo Toure had shoved
Ba seconds before anyway. The ref pointed to the spot. Ba had not been moving
towards goal so a red card was not a possibility.
Demba Ba wins a penalty against Man City
Lampard, on the verge of 200 goals, hit his
penalty low to the left but a keeper he has faced many times in England
training sessions saved well. Cahill headed the corner that followed just over.
This half was shaping up very differently from
the first period in terms of incident. More good defending by Cahill kept the
City attack at bay but then the defender let Aguero in behind him, only for the
Argentinian to chip his shot onto the roof of the net.
It was attack and counter-attack. The unlikely
pair of Ramires and Ivanovic led one break forward but when Ramires was found
in the centre by the Serbian's pass, he allowed Kolo Toure to muscle him off
the ball.
City went straight up the other end and scored.
Yaya Toure had been playing deeper since Carlos Tevez's introduction for
Rodwell early in the half. Silva played the ball back to him on the edge of the
area and his first touch took him round the outside of Mikel. With a yard of
space to exploit, Toure curled a shot low beyond the reach of Cech. It took a
slight deflection but it was a good individual goal. There were 62 minutes
played.
Rafael Benitez made a double substitution five
minutes later - Moses replacing Lampard and Oscar on for Hazard. Torres came on
for Mikel with 10 minutes left to play. David Luiz moved into midfield with
Ivanovic switching to central defence and Ramires to right-back. We were now
playing with two men up front.
On 84 minutes the home side put the game to bed
when Aguero made inroads against the reshaped right-hand side of Chelsea's
defence and played a pass back to Tevez. From 25 yards out, the substitute
arrowed a shot past Cech.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, David Luiz, Cole; Mikel (Torres 81), Lampard (c)
(Moses 68); Ramires, Mata, Hazard (Oscar 68); Ba.
Unused subs Turnbull, Azpilicueta, Terry,
Bertrand.
Booked Ramires 36.
Man City (4-3-2-1): Hart; Zabaleta (c), K Toure, Nastasic, Clichy; Milner, Javi Garcia, Rodwell
(Tevez 54); Silva (Lescott 90+2), Y Touré; Agüero (Nasri 90).
Unused subs: Pantilimon, Kolarov, Sinclair,
Džeko.
Scorers Y Toure 62, Tevez 85.
Booked Rodwell 28, Y Toure 39, Zabaleta 42.
Referee Andre Marriner
Crowd 47,256
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