Chelsea overcomes early pressure to beat Premier League leaders Manchester City with a late penalty at Stamford Bridge last night.
Man City took the lead after only two minutes when Mario Balotelli went round Petr Cech to score after a great through-ball from Sergio Aguero. At that point it looked like it was going to be a long night for Chelsea and their young, under-fire manager Andre Villas-Boas. In fact, for the first 30 minutes Chelsea did their best to hang on as Manchester City bossed the game with a master class of sublime football.
But Chelsea managed to claw their way back into the game and in the 34th minute former Man City striker Daniel Sturridge got to the byline and found Raul Meireles who scored with a great volley.
Against the odds it was 1-1 at half-time. Chelsea had battled hard and showed some team spirit while Roberto Mancini would be berating his team as they should have finished the game off before Chelsea had a chance to get a foothold.
The second half started with a yellow card for Gael Clichy. A red card followed in the 58th minute and that was enough to turn the game. Chelsea played well to make the extra man count and were less overrun in the midfield. Tempers frayed with Raul Meireles and Yaya Toure among those getting stuck in.
In the 73rd minute Frank Lampard come off the bench to replace Raul Meireles; and in the 82nd minute scored a vital penalty even though Juan Mata has allegedly been given penalty-taking duties.
Chelsea’s win end Manchester City’s 14 game unbeaten league run and inadvertently helps rivals Man United who are now only two points before City in the Premier League.
