A game that bore little in comparison to the dreadful negative scoreless game the season before where both sides had settled for a draw before the kick off, this really was the real deal. As expected Jose allowed City spells of dominating the ball in the first half as he looked to crowd out the space between the influential Silva & Aguero relying on breaks to get in behind the City back line As we pressed on,the space between the centre halves and the nearest midfield player grew ever wider and the excellent Torres was playing as if he's found a new lease of life,terrorising the back four like a man who's suddenly enjoying his football again. It came as no surprise that Torres was involved in the opener,easily outpacing the ever disappointing Clichy to pull back for his strike partner to fire Chelsea into a deserved lead Torres missed a sitter in front of the Matthew Harding stand where it seemed easier to score and rattled the bar with a far harder chance while barring a solitary Aguero shot from an acute angle,Petr Cech was rarely troubled and we found ourselves packed into the Shed End willing the respite of the half time whistle and a chance to regroup. No changes to either side at the break but City started with a lot more purpose and got an equaliser very early with a powerful Aguero shot which I'm guessing Cech won't have been too thrilled to let in. The game flowed from end to end as both sides went looking for a winner but largely cancelled each other out,Yaya and Ramires probably finished level on points in an epic battle in the middle of the park while the equally ineffective Lampard and Garcia looked on. It was always going to be a mistake or a bit of magic to get the winner and unfortunately Hart will be in the headlines for the wrong reasons again as he failed to communicate with Nastasic and Torres ran on to poke home the winner. Very good quality game of football played between the divisions 2 best sides for me,kudos to Mourinho for stopping City bullying Chelsea off the pitch which has been a habitual occurrence of late and refiring Torres energy and desire which has been missing for some time. As mentioned before Ramires was all over the pitch in the best performance I've see from him and Mikel helped to steady an at times rocking ship when he replaced Lampard As ever Silva and Aguero are easy on the eye in full flow and some of the intricate interplay was a joy to watch All in all a disappointing result and plenty to reflect on the long journey home from Euston
Good job PPLF. Hope you return home safe and well, as Mourinho said, we probably beat the best TEAM in the prem today.
Great post Paul. You were very unlucky to lose based on that second half. City are a class act and still the best team in this league for me. All the best for this season.
An excellent game of football, for me I'm disappointed we wasn't two or three up at the break as we were the better team in the first half. But saying that City did enough in the second half to have got a draw but again highlighted how poor Hart can be at times and is no way an England keeper.
This I thought City did enough to get at least 1 point. Probably the best team in the premiership and controlled the second half but for the horrible error of Hart, you would have had a draw or even a win in the later stages of the game. Not sure what happened to Hart. He was at one stage the best GK in the league - not just the best English one and had in the past save many points for City. But now it seems he is prone to make the odd costly mistake.
Thought the win came because Yaya was not his usual brilliant bullying self. Didn't play badly, but he usually shreds then bosses our midfield. Watched the game again and can see Ramires really did put in today, would love to see a new midfielder who can free him up and help him out more. Frank is not the natural partner for him, good though he is. Very good review by PPLF, shows there are some unbiased and good hearted fans in Manchester, though most wear blue shirts. Fimnally, it looks as if Chelsea are settling a bit quicker than City, but City have heaps of improvement to come I'm sure.
The carling/milk/rumbalows cup game on wednesday at newcastle will be make or break for Pantilimon. He wont get a better opportunity to get a run of games Hart has been going through a poor spell for quite a while and his distribution for a supposedly top class keeper is pretty dire.Time to take a break out of the limelight and go back to basics for him
Great game against Manchester's finest. Great fans too: city of manchester stadium best atmos in the Prem. You have a better squad than us but I think we have a better manager IMO. Good effort taking your full allocation too
His rapid downfall has been really surprising. He had been so reliable in the past. I also admired your manager's dignity in not publicly humiliating him. That would not have happened with your previous one. Also thought he behaved much better than the opposing manager. There was simply no need Jose to rub Pellegrini's nose in it when the goal came so late. I can understand that he (Jose) was absolutely elated to get 3 points when even 1 was looking tricky. All his explanations did not wash with Pellegrini. He behaved with dignity and said he didn't shake hands because he didn't want to...Class ! You can buy lost of things when you have the financial backing but class you either have it or you don't ...
So Jose's celebration was lack of dignity but Pellegrini's refusal to shake hands was 'class'. Mmmmm. I suppose Pellegrini's complete refusal to accept all the teams that have beaten City this year deserved it, or saying we only had one chance in the first half is also showing 'class'. The red mancs have really got their knickers in a twist this year post fergie haven't they...???
Wouldnt condemn Pellegrini for being pissed off,he must have been seething to see a well earned point given away and Jose's antics wouldnt have helped matters its a passionate game,he didnt shake his hand,who gives a ****?
Don't think any Chelsea fan will be condemning him for it, just pointing out to the plastic that his logic is completely naff.
Jose must have known it would rile Pellegrini or any other manager in these circumstances, especially as it was a self inflicted wound!! I am not blaming Pellegrini. He was pissed off and he said it - football is a passionate game. But who said " it is important to both win and lose gracefully" ?
The fact we are even talking about handshake is all down to Sky any their yellow journalism that has damaged the game.
