City halt Chelsea's charge

Manchester City 2 Chelsea 1:IF MANCHESTER City continue to work hard, develop their team play and maintain Saturday's level of enterprise, they can look forward to being wildly unpopular. Sheikh Mansour's outlay, after all, is futile if it does not give his side an advantage that will infuriate clubs of lesser means.

Their starting line-up at the weekend had cost about €55 million more than Chelsea’s and the onus is on Mark Hughes to demonstrate that his judgment in the transfer market can guarantee a proportionate return on all that expenditure. This win comes at a good moment for the manager since rumours had been stirring of a plan to replace him.

At full-time, he looked fully in charge. Chelsea, after opening confidently, lost control and were not permitted to dictate terms so much as they often do. Nigel de Jong, in his defensive midfield role, took credit for a great deal of important destructiveness.

“We talked about playing in their half and trying to stop situations that could develop and hurt us,” said the manager.

It was difficult to believe that the Dutchman purchased from Hamburg for €18 million had once been a creative presence for Ajax.

Most people in Hughes’s side looked entirely at ease in their present line of work and De Jong regarded this as one of the best displays of his career.

Chelsea, however, had already shown a sporadic vulnerability while being beaten at Wigan and Aston Villa. Carlo Ancelotti wanted to be philosophical and reflected that his side, even with its lead in the table trimmed to two points, has the benefit of dictating its own fate. Against City, they could not sustain their authority as they conceded two goals and then failed with a penalty.

After Nedum Onuoha, on for an injured Micah Richards, had brought down Didier Drogba in the 82nd minute, Shay Given saved Frank Lampard’s kick with a dive to his right. There was talk about the benefits of the research done by the City goalkeeping coach Kevin Hitchcock, a former Chelsea player, but Lampard’s attempt had been less crisp than usual.

“Frank obviously was aware of the significance of the moment,” Hughes diagnosed. “Maybe that contributed to him being a bit over-cautious.” Ancelotti was blunter still. “It was not a good penalty. Frank should have scored, no?” The Italian was exasperated because his side had been given a basis to take command.

They were in front after eight minutes following a wrongly-awarded corner-kick. Drogba headed Michael Ballack’s subsequent cross into the goalmouth and Given made saves from Branislav Ivanovic and Nicolas Anelka, but the second of those parries bounced off Emmanuel Adebayor for an own goal.

City, all the same, were lucky to be level in the 37th minute. Shaun Wright-Phillips let fly and his team-mate Micah Richards, putting his arms in front of his chest to protect himself, discovered he had laid the ball off perfectly. Adebayor’s first attempt hit John Terry, but the Togolese striker converted the rebound. Referee Howard Webb permitted the goal to stand when Richards’s touch could have been deemed critical.

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech was wretched and verged on the incompetent after positioning the defensive wall at a free-kick awarded for a raised boot by Ricardo Carvalho on Carlos Tevez in the 55th minute.

Cech left a gap unguarded as he took a fatal step to the right and Tevez’ shot easily found the net even though it was two or three yards inside the post. It was not Cech’s sole moment of equivocation. In contrast opposite number Given was in fine form.

“Once we knew there was a possibility we might be able to bring Shay to the club we had to pursue that,” said Hughes. “Top keepers will save you games, keep you in games.”

Chelsea had too few men who were efficient or reliable. Drogba was wasteful in missing the target entirely when put clear by a pass from Michael Essien late on and the visitors bore no resemblance to the composed and steely group who had won at Arsenal the previous weekend.

That disarray is recorded in the six bookings they received that will trigger an FA fine. Half of the offences were on Tevez. His habitual energy spread havoc on this occasion and the Chelsea defence was startlingly frail throughout. Ancelotti’s team was distressed in all manner of ways and John Terry had to go off with a knee injury from which he is expected to recover soon.

City’s Wayne Bridge also strained knee ligaments and will be absent for a couple of weeks, but nothing diluted the satisfaction at Eastlands.