The gap between first and second place in the Barclays Premier League remains the same after Chelsea and Manchester City shared the points yesterday, drawing 1-1 at Stamford Bridge. In the midst of this highly entertaining clash between two of England’s giants, both of the goals came at the end of the first half in quick succession. Aside from what happened on the pitch, there were many talking points ahead of Saturday’s match in London.
Frank Lampard’s departure from Chelsea has been a touchy subject to say the least. Some fans have turned on him for his contributions to Manchester City this season and others have remained loyal to the Englishman, who is arguably the greatest player to ever play for Chelsea Football Club. The situation became even more awkward after Lampard equalized for City with just five minutes left to play versus Chelsea at the Etihad back in September. He did not celebrate, as expected, and the travelling Chelsea fans gave him a standing ovation after the final whistle. After it was announced that Lampard would remain a Manchester City player until the end of the season as opposed to joining MLS newbies NYCFC after the new year, fans of the Blues realized that Lampard would have the opportunity to play at Stamford Bridge one last time. This time, though; Lampard donned the wrong shade of blue.
Both Chelsea and Manchester City were shamefully knocked out of the FA Cup by lower league opposition last Saturday. While City had exactly a week to prepare for their big title contending clash with league leaders Chelsea, the blues of London did not have that luxury. A 120 minute long duel with heated rivals Liverpool in the second leg of the Capital One Cup semi-final on Tuesday night left Chelsea with tired legs ahead of yesterdays match.
José Mourinho made a couple of changes to his Chelsea side from the eleven who started midweek against Liverpool. The injured Filipe Luis and Cesc Fabregas were replaced by Cesar Azpilicueta and Ramires. Kurt Zouma got the start once again, keeping the out of form and favor Gary Cahill on the bench. Due to Diego Costa’s three match ban, he was unavailable for the match. Loic Remy took his place, with Mourinho looking to take advantage of the Frenchman’s pace.
Manuel Pellegrini countered with a starting XI of Hart; Clichy, Demichelis, Kompany, Sagna; Milner, Fernando, Fernandinho, Navas; Silva; and Aguero. Yaya Toure was a key absence in City’s midfield as both he and new signing Wilfried Bony remain away at the African Cup of Nations.
It took less than a minute for Manchester City to get their first shot on target, as Courtois was forced to produce a save from a Jesus Navas shot after a brilliant spell of City possession.
Chelsea came out pressing, but Manchester City were dominant early in the match as Fernandinho’s shot across goal was deflected out of play just seven minutes later.
James Milner pounced on a communication error between Kurt Zouma and Branislav Ivanovic, leading to an Aguero shot from a tough angle which was taken care of by Courtois.
On the half hour mark, Chelsea finally created a chance as Remy broke down the left side and teed up Oscar for a shot from the edge of the area that was easily claimed by Joe Hart.
After a Chelsea handball appeal was waved away by referee Mark Clattenburg, Manchester City countered down the other end. Sergio Aguero ran onto a long ball and then past John Terry as well, dragging his shot just wide of the far post past an outstretched Courtois.
In the forty-first minute a long ball across to the left side fell to Eden Hazard, who crossed it on the ground into the penalty area with his first touch. A sliding Vincent Kompany pulled his leading leg out of the way at the last second, allowing the ball to run past him and into the foot of the opportunistic Loic Remy who sent Hazard’s cross into the back of the net from close range past a helpless Joe Hart. Chelsea, who most certainly wasn’t the better side, had taken a 1-0 lead at just the right time.
However just four minutes later City equalized. After a silly Chelsea giveaway, Jesus Navas swung a cross in that left Courtois in an awkward position. The Belgian got an unconvincing hand on the incoming ball which ended up falling right to Sergio Aguero, who volleyed a low, hard shot from the edge of the penalty area. David Silva slid in and got a touch on the Argentine’s shot which was going just wide. The ball flew into the back of the net, leaving Chelsea with a bad taste in their mouth going into the dressing room at half-time.
HALF-TIME SCORE: CHELSEA 1-1 MANCHESTER CITY
A second half full of promise didn’t exactly live up to its expectations. Aside from the visiting side constructing a few half chances, nothing of note happened until the seventy-sixth minute. Frank Lampard trotted onto the pitch at the expense of Fernando to the sounds of overwhelming applause and song from both sets of supporters. Chelsea fans, though were undoubtedly nervous that Lampard may do the unthinkable and score a winner.
The last five minutes plus added time were extremely worrisome for the home side, as Manchester City relentlessly pushed for a winner. With just three minutes to play José Mourinho brought on Gary Cahill for Loic Remy, and it was obvious that at this point the league leaders were happy to defend and preserve the draw. With weary legs from a 120 minute midweek clash, the Blues simply didn’t have it in them to try and win the game within the last 20 odd minutes. After defending for their lives and fighting off wave after wave of City attacks, the final whistle blew.
FULL-TIME SCORE: CHELSEA 1-1 MANCHESTER CITY
GOALS: Remy 41’, Silva 45’
BOOKINGS: Silva 52’, Fernando 74’
SUBSTITUTIONS: Lampard-Fernando 76’, Drogba-Willian 80’, Dzeko-Aguero 83’, Cahill-Remy 87’, Jovetic-Silva 89’, Loftus-Cheek-Oscar 92’
MANAGER REACTIONS:
José Mourinho, after previously cancelling his pre-match press conference on Friday, refused to speak to the media after the match.
Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini voiced his frustration on the 1-1 draw, saying “No I’m not happy with the point, I’m happy with the way my team played today because we had the personality to go for three points from the beginning. We had three clear chances in the first half, one very good save from Courtois, others that we missed.They scored from the only chance that they had during the 90 minutes, the second half they didn’t have a shot on our goal – I think there was just one team from the beginning that wanted to win. If you say it’s a good point at Stamford Bridge, maybe, it’s a good point in the way we played for 95 minutes, but it’s not a good point because we had a better performance than Chelsea.”
With the draw Chelsea remain five points clear of second place Manchester City at the top of the Barclays Premier League. Even though they were the home side, they will be happy with a draw after a tough midweek match. Manchester City will ultimately be unsatisfied with the result due to their blatant advantage of chances over their opposition, although they were missing Yaya Toure. This match will set us up for an enthralling finish to the Premier League campaign where the race for the title may come down to the last day. However, there is still a long way to go.
