The late kick off on Saturday saw first and second in the Premier League table go head to head. For the leaders, it had been a very up and down week. They had crashed out of the FA Cup to Bradford City a week ago, but booked their place in the Capital One Cup final after they beat Liverpool in midweek. Manchester City went into the game after two consecutive 2-0 losses, to Arsenal and in the FA Cup against Middlesbrough. It looked like it could be a very tight game.
Both teams go into the game with some of their key players. Chelsea were without Diego Costa after his FA ban for stamping on Emre Can begins and Cesc Fabregas is out with an injury. Meanwhile, Man City were missing Yaya Toure and new signing Wilfried Bony as they are not yet back from the African Cup of Nations.
The first half was extremely tight, with neither team giving the other any space or too much time on the ball. It didn't look like there would be a breakthrough. Sergio Aguero did have a good chance after he was left one on one with Thibaut Courtois, but he could only drag his shot wide of the far post. Other than that, both teams were creating chances, but couldn't find the perfect final pass or the piece of play was just cut out by good defending.
Then, a sudden piece of good play from Chelsea turned the game around. The ball was played to Branislav Ivanovic just outside the 18 yard box, who played an excellent pass across to Eden Hazard coming into the box from the left wing. With a brilliant piece of skill, he flicked it across the box and Loic Remy was waiting to turn the ball into the back of the net, leaving Joe Hart scrambling. It could be argued that Vincent Kompany could have defended a lot better. Instead of trying to turn the ball away for a corner or kick it further down the pitch, possibly because he could have scored an own goal, he pulled his legs away, leaving Remy with a free chance.
Only four minutes later, right on the stroke of half time, City struck back. Cesar Azpilicueta was caught out of position which allowed Jesus Navas to get in behind him. For the first time in a long time Courtois was caught out by a James Milner run into the box and he couldn't deal with the cross that came in. The ball fell to Aguero on the edge of the box, who aimed his shot towards the goal, but it still needed David Silva's touch to turn it into a gaping net as Courtois once again failed to deal with the ball across.
The second half was a turning point for Manchester City. As Chelsea had played a midweek game that had gone into extra time, the time seemed to be taking a toll on the players. They were starting to tire, which allowed City to get in behind them and try and test them more. A lot more chances were created by the visitors, but even then they still couldn't find a ball to punish Chelsea. Fernandinho had a good chance when he directed his header goalwards. The bounce made it difficult for Courtois to deal with, but he managed to turn it up and over his crossbar.
Two Chelsea legends took to the pitch mid way through the second half, both hoping to turn the game around for their different teams. It was Frank Lampard's first return to Stamford Bridge since leaving the club in the summer and he was now facing Didier Drogba. Neither of them could get a foothold in the game nor find what would have been the winning goal.
The draw left the two teams with 5 points still separating them, but when it comes to the end of the season, will one of the two teams regret not finding the winning goal? By the end of the game, Jose Mourinho was playing for the game because he knew the players' fatigue would stop them from being able to push on for the win. City could also regret it after wasting all of the chances they had in the second half. It was also a good time to play Chelsea with their leading goal-scorer and game changer out of the game. I guess we'll see how big of an impact this result could have at the end of the season.
The first half was extremely tight, with neither team giving the other any space or too much time on the ball. It didn't look like there would be a breakthrough. Sergio Aguero did have a good chance after he was left one on one with Thibaut Courtois, but he could only drag his shot wide of the far post. Other than that, both teams were creating chances, but couldn't find the perfect final pass or the piece of play was just cut out by good defending.
Then, a sudden piece of good play from Chelsea turned the game around. The ball was played to Branislav Ivanovic just outside the 18 yard box, who played an excellent pass across to Eden Hazard coming into the box from the left wing. With a brilliant piece of skill, he flicked it across the box and Loic Remy was waiting to turn the ball into the back of the net, leaving Joe Hart scrambling. It could be argued that Vincent Kompany could have defended a lot better. Instead of trying to turn the ball away for a corner or kick it further down the pitch, possibly because he could have scored an own goal, he pulled his legs away, leaving Remy with a free chance.
Only four minutes later, right on the stroke of half time, City struck back. Cesar Azpilicueta was caught out of position which allowed Jesus Navas to get in behind him. For the first time in a long time Courtois was caught out by a James Milner run into the box and he couldn't deal with the cross that came in. The ball fell to Aguero on the edge of the box, who aimed his shot towards the goal, but it still needed David Silva's touch to turn it into a gaping net as Courtois once again failed to deal with the ball across.
The second half was a turning point for Manchester City. As Chelsea had played a midweek game that had gone into extra time, the time seemed to be taking a toll on the players. They were starting to tire, which allowed City to get in behind them and try and test them more. A lot more chances were created by the visitors, but even then they still couldn't find a ball to punish Chelsea. Fernandinho had a good chance when he directed his header goalwards. The bounce made it difficult for Courtois to deal with, but he managed to turn it up and over his crossbar.
Two Chelsea legends took to the pitch mid way through the second half, both hoping to turn the game around for their different teams. It was Frank Lampard's first return to Stamford Bridge since leaving the club in the summer and he was now facing Didier Drogba. Neither of them could get a foothold in the game nor find what would have been the winning goal.
The draw left the two teams with 5 points still separating them, but when it comes to the end of the season, will one of the two teams regret not finding the winning goal? By the end of the game, Jose Mourinho was playing for the game because he knew the players' fatigue would stop them from being able to push on for the win. City could also regret it after wasting all of the chances they had in the second half. It was also a good time to play Chelsea with their leading goal-scorer and game changer out of the game. I guess we'll see how big of an impact this result could have at the end of the season.
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