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Blues halt City’s 17-game winning romp

Comment: 0 December 13th, 2011 by: admin

ALL of a sudden, the title race in the Premier League is wide open.

And this was because erstwhile unbeaten Manchester City’s winning run screeched to a halt on Monday night.

Chelsea ended City’s string of 17 consecutive victories by pulling off a pulsating 2-1 win at Stamford Bridge, thanks to Frank Lampard’s late penalty.

Coming on as substitute, Lampard blasted home the winner in the 82^nd minute after City defender Joleon Lescott blocked Daniel Sturridge’s shot with his hand.

City, who were down to 10 men after Gael Clichy was sent off in the 58^th minute, suffered their first league defeat since a 2-1 setback at Everton last May 7 and saw their lead over defending champions Manchester United reduced to two points.

The resurgent Blues moved to third place and are now back in hot contention for the title hunt after nailing their third straight triumph.

Tottenham Hotspur are level with 31 points with Chelsea, while Arsenal are only two points farther back. After 15 matches, the top five teams are separated by only nine points, paving the way for a thrilling second half of the season.

Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas said their win was gratifying. ‘Seven points behind, with so many teams challenging for the title, is nothing.’

His counterpart, City boss Roberto Mancini, said Chelsea were really luck in the game and although they were disappointed ‘we have time to recover.’

Mancini rued that Clichy’s banishment altered the complexion of the fixture. ‘We didn’t score enough in the first half and then the game changed after the sending-off. It became difficult.’

Mario Balotelli sent City ahead after only 105 seconds of play after latching on a Sergio Aguero through-ball but the Blues knotted the count through Raul Meireles’ brace in the 34^th.

Meireles was replaced by Lampard in the 73^rd and the latter struck nine minutes later, beating City goalkeeper Petr Cech with a shot down the middle.

Lampard, who has been in recent controversy himself after his form was put into question, said he had a feeling it was going to be their night.

‘You’ve got to be big enough to stand up and take them (penalties), and I was very relieved when it hit the back of the net,’ said the veteran playmaker.

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