by Richard Buxton at Eastlands. Published Sat 15 Feb 2014 23:00, last updated: 15/02/14
Chelsea's 'little horse' was barely out of the stables, let alone at the races, in this encounter.
Jose Mourinho's perceived fear of failure appeared to be more an inability to overcome a Manchester City side that remain in contention for FA Cup glory and on course for an historic quadruple.
For the self-styled Happy One, the statistics make for unpleasant and damning reading; three shots mustered throughout 90 minutes and not one on target. They were a shadow of their previous visit to the Etihad Stadium, a fortnight prior, when they announced themselves as title contenders.
Yet it was City that were utterly dominant this time round. Yaya Toure and Javi Garcia controlled the midfield battle with John Obi Mikel and Nemanja Matic while Vincent Kompany had Eden Hazard Samuel Eto'o comfortably stifled to the point that Mourinho withdrew the latter at half time.
Chelsea's obsession with the FA Cup promised a stronger challenge. The reality was toothless and stark, as their seldom contrite manager conceded in the aftermath.
"City played much better than us. They deserved much more than us to win," admitted Mourinho.
"When the best teams wins, I think football is in peace. Two weeks ago, the best team won and today the best team won so for me that's simple.
"Was the refereeing team very poor in the second half? Yes. But even with a perfect refereeing team, would Chelsea win the game? No. They were better than us. The second goal is offside but they would [still] win 1-0 because we were never close to score or be dominant."
City's breakthrough arrived barely a minute after Stevan Jovetic had spurned a golden opportunity, as he clipped a close-range effort over the crossbar after Petr Cech had spilled Toure's shot on the edge of the area.
Redemption was swift for the Montenegrin striker as David Silva and Edin Dzeko combined to tee him up for a cool finish. Injuries have plagued Jovetic's debut season in England but he atoned for lost time and proved a relentless pursuer. Only a booking for a comical dive after attempting to go past David Luiz tainted his hour-long outing.
Hazard was the scourge of the Etihad when the sides faced off in the Premier League but he was largely absent in this latest grudge match. Mourinho's solution was to hand Mohamed Salah a baptism of fire as Eto'o's replacement before summoning Fernando Torres after the hour mark.
Both the diminutive Salah and Torres, now enduring a third year of failing to capture former glories at Stamford Bridge, were bystanders for the best part while Manuel Pellegrini avenged their previous meeting by introducing a fit-again Samir Nasri for his first outing in over a month.
Within five minutes of his return, the winger had doubled the advantage as he linked up with David Silva before ghosting past Gary Cahill and Cech before rolling the ball into an empty net.
Silva was City's designated recipient for the man of the match award but in reality he was merely one of several serious contenders. Toure continued to dominate affairs in the middle of the park, ably assisted by Garcia, while Joleon Lescott was on hand with some vital interceptions late on.
Chelsea's horse may have bolted but the next challenge for City - a Champions League clash with Barcelona on Tuesday night - will provide a swift distraction from the elation of this victory.
MANCHESTER CITY (4-4-2): Pantilimon; Zabaleta, Kompany, Lescott, Clichy; Milner, Garcia, Toure, Silva (Navas 69); Jovetic (Nasri 61), Dzeko (Negredo 80). Subs not used: Hart, Richards, Demichelis, Kolarov
Goals: Jovetic (16), Nasri (67) Booked: Kompany, Jovetic, Toure, Garcia
CHELSEA (4-2-3-1): Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, Luiz, Azpilicueta; Mikel, Matic; Ramires (Torres 61), Willian (Oscar 71), Hazard; Eto'o (Salah 46). Subs not used: Schwarzer, Cole, Lampard, Schurrle
Booked: Luiz, Matic
Tickets For Chelsea Fans
Referee: P Dowd (Staffordshire) Attendance: 47,013
Source : http://www.click-manchester.com/sport/manchester-city/1219516-manchester-city-2-chelsea-0---match-report.html
Chelsea's 'little horse' was barely out of the stables, let alone at the races, in this encounter.
Jose Mourinho's perceived fear of failure appeared to be more an inability to overcome a Manchester City side that remain in contention for FA Cup glory and on course for an historic quadruple.
For the self-styled Happy One, the statistics make for unpleasant and damning reading; three shots mustered throughout 90 minutes and not one on target. They were a shadow of their previous visit to the Etihad Stadium, a fortnight prior, when they announced themselves as title contenders.
Yet it was City that were utterly dominant this time round. Yaya Toure and Javi Garcia controlled the midfield battle with John Obi Mikel and Nemanja Matic while Vincent Kompany had Eden Hazard Samuel Eto'o comfortably stifled to the point that Mourinho withdrew the latter at half time.
Chelsea's obsession with the FA Cup promised a stronger challenge. The reality was toothless and stark, as their seldom contrite manager conceded in the aftermath.
"City played much better than us. They deserved much more than us to win," admitted Mourinho.
"When the best teams wins, I think football is in peace. Two weeks ago, the best team won and today the best team won so for me that's simple.
"Was the refereeing team very poor in the second half? Yes. But even with a perfect refereeing team, would Chelsea win the game? No. They were better than us. The second goal is offside but they would [still] win 1-0 because we were never close to score or be dominant."
City's breakthrough arrived barely a minute after Stevan Jovetic had spurned a golden opportunity, as he clipped a close-range effort over the crossbar after Petr Cech had spilled Toure's shot on the edge of the area.
Redemption was swift for the Montenegrin striker as David Silva and Edin Dzeko combined to tee him up for a cool finish. Injuries have plagued Jovetic's debut season in England but he atoned for lost time and proved a relentless pursuer. Only a booking for a comical dive after attempting to go past David Luiz tainted his hour-long outing.
Hazard was the scourge of the Etihad when the sides faced off in the Premier League but he was largely absent in this latest grudge match. Mourinho's solution was to hand Mohamed Salah a baptism of fire as Eto'o's replacement before summoning Fernando Torres after the hour mark.
Both the diminutive Salah and Torres, now enduring a third year of failing to capture former glories at Stamford Bridge, were bystanders for the best part while Manuel Pellegrini avenged their previous meeting by introducing a fit-again Samir Nasri for his first outing in over a month.
Within five minutes of his return, the winger had doubled the advantage as he linked up with David Silva before ghosting past Gary Cahill and Cech before rolling the ball into an empty net.
Silva was City's designated recipient for the man of the match award but in reality he was merely one of several serious contenders. Toure continued to dominate affairs in the middle of the park, ably assisted by Garcia, while Joleon Lescott was on hand with some vital interceptions late on.
Chelsea's horse may have bolted but the next challenge for City - a Champions League clash with Barcelona on Tuesday night - will provide a swift distraction from the elation of this victory.
MANCHESTER CITY (4-4-2): Pantilimon; Zabaleta, Kompany, Lescott, Clichy; Milner, Garcia, Toure, Silva (Navas 69); Jovetic (Nasri 61), Dzeko (Negredo 80). Subs not used: Hart, Richards, Demichelis, Kolarov
Goals: Jovetic (16), Nasri (67) Booked: Kompany, Jovetic, Toure, Garcia
CHELSEA (4-2-3-1): Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, Luiz, Azpilicueta; Mikel, Matic; Ramires (Torres 61), Willian (Oscar 71), Hazard; Eto'o (Salah 46). Subs not used: Schwarzer, Cole, Lampard, Schurrle
Booked: Luiz, Matic
Tickets For Chelsea Fans
Referee: P Dowd (Staffordshire) Attendance: 47,013
Source : http://www.click-manchester.com/sport/manchester-city/1219516-manchester-city-2-chelsea-0---match-report.html
No comments:
Post a Comment