Manchester City vs Chelsea
Match pulse
MNCAttacking pressure by 5 minutes
| Team | 1H | 2H | T |
|---|---|---|---|
| MNC | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| CHE | 0 | 3 | 3 |
Who won: Chelsea 3-1
Chelsea beat Manchester City 3-1 on Saturday, September 13, 2008 at Etihad Stadium. Goals for Man City: Robinho (13'). Goals for Chelsea: Ricardo Carvalho (16'), Frank Lampard (53') and Nicolas Anelka (69').
Play by play
- 93'
FULL-TIME: The spotlight was on City and their big new signing but Chelsea stole their limelight with a polished, assured performance. They responded immediately to the impudence of Robinho's goal and once they levelled they systematically went about dismantling Mark Hughes's game-plan. Lampard and Joe Cole were particularly impressive. City may have more money than the London side, but it will take more than cash to mould them in to the sort of effective unit Scolari has at his disposal.
- 90'
Danny Sturridge almost gets one back for City after showing neat feet but two Chelsea defenders slide in as he blasts a shot towards Cech's goal and they just do enough to concede a corner.
- 88'
Alex races back to get to a ball Jo was chasing and has the legs to reach it first. Jo's influence has also waned in this half and he looks tired.
- 87'
Terry was dismissed for 'serious foul play' so will be banned for three games including Chelsea's vital clash with Manchester United.
- 85'
City are looking short on ideas and Robinho has been posted largely missing in the second half. His tricks are not coming off and he looks a little off the pace as the game winds down.
- 83'
Danny Sturridge comes on for Ball.
- 81'
Cole attempts a counter attack then seems to hesitate as he entered Man City's half. City regain possession and this time Ireland does well to come inside before squaring to Michael Ball. The full-back has not scored in the Premier League for seven and a half years and the resulting shot provides good evidence of why.
- 80'
Stephen Ireland's shot with the outside of his boot curls wide of the Chelsea goal. They will have to do better than that in these last ten mintues.
- 79'
Alex has come on the the Blues to shore up their defence.
- 76'
John Terry has been sent off for rugby tackling Jo as he skipped past him. Terry had been put in trouble after Jo was gifted possession by Deco but his challenge was clumsy at best and he received a straight red, the first of the Chelsea skipper's career. Can City make their numerical advantage tell?
- 75'
Drogba's first touch finds Mikel who rampagaes through the middle before coming up against the immovable object that is Richard Dunne.
- 72'
Despite the clamour around their side their has been a noticeable flat atmosphere at the City of Manchester Stadium this evening and the home support seem now to have accepted City's fate this afternoon.
- 70'
Joe Cole has been withdrawn along with Malouda as the expected Chelsea substitutions are made.
- 69'
GOAL: Nicolas Anelka may have ended this game as a contest when he converts after a marvellous weighted pass from Joe Cole. Anelka coolly dispatches his shot around Joe Hart.
- 68'
Robinho has a free-kick given against him when it looked as if it should have went the other way.
- 67'
Drogba takes a long lug from his bottle as he receives some final instructions from Scolari who looks as if he is about to launch both Drogba and Belletti in to the fray.
- 65'
Lampard comes close to scoring again with a cleanly hit drive which Hart just about gets his weight behind.
- 63'
Wright-Phillips again does well coming in from the right but his pass to Ireland is just behind the Irishman. It's still a good chance though but Ireland has to halt his run alllowing Chelsea time to get back and concede a corner when it could have been a goal.
- 61'
Zabaleta, who is not having a wonderful afternoon, shoots from an ambitious range and distance with predictably woeful results.
- 59'
Anelka gets in behind Richards as Lampard picks him out with a long ball. Anelka appeals for a free-kick as Richards muscles him away from the ball but the ref judges it to have been a legitimate show of strength when it was actually a clear shove. A stonewall penalty. Just after this Chelsea go close again from a corner. They should be well ahead by now.
- 57'
Terrible shout for offside from the linesman to unjustly penalise Malouda.
- 55'
Jo's pass to Wright-Phillips seemed to take an age to reach the winger, allowing the gap that had opened up for him in the heart of the Chelsea defence to be quickly closed.
- 53'
Ireland hesitates to shoot at the other end and instead Robinho has a go but his shot is blocked for a corner which City waste.
- 52'
GOAL: Frank Lampard makes no mistake this time to score with a fantastic angled shot. Chelsea charge forward with pace and Lampard shows quick feet first to beat Richard Dunne, then to fire a shot in from about sixteen yards out. Great goal.
- 51'
Didier Drogba is warming up on the sideline and could be about to make his Premier League bow for this season.
Leaders
MNCCHE 
