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City Ruined

Comment: 0 December 16th, 2011 by: admin
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FIFTEEN games ago, Manchester United played as if they were already nearing ultimate success in the Premier League.

However, that’s no longer the situation now.

All the euphoria and high hopes City amassed in that virtually unchallenged march towards a cherished goal suddenly came to a halt.

Their winning rampage is suddenly over and Chelsea were the culprits – at least in the eyes of City and their faithful.

The glory of hitting the winning goal that lifted the Blues to a 2-1 triumph over the erstwhile unbeaten City went to Frank Lampard, who came on as a substitute to connect on a late penalty that sent Stamford Bridge rocking in jubilation last Monday.

Already being lined up into the goners’ list, the Blues are alive and of course, kicking again into high gear.

PLAYING INSPIRED

Andre Villas-Boas’ men came into the fray buoyed by their progress to the knockout phase of the Champions League and this could be the stimulus why they played more heads-up than usual against City.

The smiles are back at the Blues’ camp and so as on the face of Villas-Boas who only recently came under heavy dose of scrutiny when his team looked vulnerable.

Chelsea have never been that much of the less-favoured side in their 5 past league eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation with City. The Blues managed to win twice in that span while City won three.

But what put the Blues in a more jovial mood to extract the three points was the fact that both of those victories were posted in from of their home fans.

City may still be the leaders, though on a flimsy two-point edge over defending champions Manchester United, but Chelsea is just within striking range, only five points off the pace.

Chelsea’s win clearly threw the race for this season’s diadem wide open.

OTHERS IN CONTENTION

Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur are also not far behind the table. Liverpool, too, should not be discounted at this point.

With that in the frame, this week’s collisions would be of high importance.

The Blues try to extend their luck when they visit Wigan Athletic. United go to Queens Park Rangers, while City aim to bounce back when they face the Gunners at the Etihad Stadium. The Spurs host Sunderland, while the Reds tackle hosts Aston Villa.

At this juncture, winning is the only way for the contenders to know this early how they would map out their strategies entering the second half of the season. Losing could be fatal, while forging stalemates could not be enough.

Among the teams, the Blues appear in finest shape. If they want to build on that win over City, they should remain as dangerous as ever in the eyes of their rivals.

They should not waste the momentum brought on by that confidence-boosting win over City.

And as that game emphasised, Lampard remains a significant part of the Blues.

Villas-Boas should no longer be relegating him to the substitute’s role. Giving Lampard his habitual spot in the starting 11 should be the more logical thing for the Portuguese mentor to consider.

The inspiration Lampard provides is priceless. Despite being hurt by his limited playing time as of late, he still wants to be a major contributor to the Blues in the future.

THE FIRE’S STILL THERE

He is already 33 years old and may be in the twilight of his career but the fire in his eyes to poach for goals is still as intense as ever. For sure, he would be remembered for that seventh league goal in the campaign – the one that made City crumble back to earth.

For their part, City should not look into that setback in a downbeat mode. They’re still up after all and all they have to do is try to win their next outings and hold off the pursuers.

Whining at this stage, like what City boss Roberto Mancini showed when he blamed the referee for the result, should not be entertained, of course by the Eastlands side who have been hit lately by disciplinary problems for having players dismissed in their last three assignments.

Mancini was quick to deny there is such a mess of that kind on his team but he must prove there’s none and the best way is to do this is mould his team back to their winning ways.

The season heads deeper into the decisive December games and it has come into view that the team who shows more poise under pressure stands to gain headway approaching the homestretch of this campaign.

And after their emphatic conquest of City, the Blues found themselves in a better position to be in a spot where they want to.

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