THE WEEK AHEAD: Wigan and the Champions League draw
Attentions will turn to Switzerland tomorrow when the draw is made for the last 16 of the Champions League, before matters closer to home see Chelsea travel to Wigan in the Premier League on Saturday. The remaining teams in with a chance of winning Europe's top trophy are eagerly awaiting news of their opponents for the next round, with the draw starting in Nyon at 11am GMT. After winning Group E the Blues could face any of the second-placed sides except previous opponents Bayer Leverkusen, meaning a tie against one of Napoli, CSKA Moscow, Basel, Lyon, Marseille, Zenit St Petersburg and AC Milan. However the players' minds are already firmly fixed on the Premier League ahead of the 5.30pm kick-off against Wigan, with Andre Villas-Boas and his team looking to build on consecutive domestic wins over high-flying Newcastle and top-of-the-table Manchester City. A further confidence boost is provided by Chelsea's impressive recent record against Wigan, including a 6-0 win at the DW Stadium last season and a record of 15 goals scored with none conceded in the teams' last three meetings.
MATCH REPORT: CHELSEA 2 MANCHESTER CITY 1 Posted on: Mon 12 Dec 2011
Summary
Having gone behind less than two minutes into the game against a side full of confidence, Chelsea might have crumbled but we did anything but, coming back into the game with determination, Raul Meireles levelling before the break and then Frank Lampard coming on to score a penalty winner late in the game. The league leaders had a penalty shout of their own turned down in the first half but then had Gael Clichy dismissed with just over an hour to play. By that stage the momentum was already with Andre Villas-Boas's team who kept pressing until the moment came to inflict a first league defeat of the season on the leaders and send Chelsea up to third.
Best moment
The first goal was more pleasing on the eye but nothing can better Frank Lampard, who missed a penalty on his previous appearance and had been on the pitch less than 10 minutes, smashing his spot-kick home to raise the roof and keep Chelsea's season on an upward curve.
Team news
The only change to the Chelsea starting line-up was the one most would have predicted - Jose Bosingwa coming in for suspended David Luiz with Branislav Ivanovic moving from right-back into central defence. Man City made two changes to their defence from the side that beat Norwich in their last league game - Zabaleta and Lescott in place of Richards and Kolo Toure. James Milner replaced Samir Nasri in midfield with Mario Balotelli preferred to Edin Dzeko in attack where he was partnered by Sergio Aguero as they changed shape to 4-4-2 First half Manchester City scored from their very first attack. Aguero took possession midway inside the Chelsea half and with Terry in close attendance, the Argentine turned and played a perfectly measured pass forward to Balotelli. The City striker could have shot first time but opted instead to take the ball wide of Cech and the pursuing Ivanovic before slotting home. Just 93 seconds had been played. helsea's response was hindered by two decision that didn't go our way. Ramires was whistled up for an inadvertent trip on Clichy as he chased a Mata cross with space opening up, and then at the other end no foul was given when Bosingwa tumbled when policing Aguero inside the area. The Man City man wasted a good chance by shooting wide. On 13 minutes Bosingwa did get the decision when he hung a leg out and Silva went over inside the Chelsea penalty area. Initial TV replays were inconclusive on whether there was any contact. The visitors were on top and looking good in possession in our half in the first quarter of the game, although Ramires did get the ball wide to Drogba whose cross was almost headed down into the right spot for Meireles to try his luck. He had earlier seen a shot deflect wide. Going forward, Man City continued to look capable to finding gaps in the Chelsea defence, as Silva did for Milner but that incision fortunately came to nothing. The Blues were playing reasonably deep in a similar manner to the Valencia game. Then on 24 minutes Drogba sprung into life and Hart tipped his shot, which might have been going wide, just past the post. It heralded a spell of better play for Chelsea that ended in a goal although not before interruptions, Drogba needing treatment first and then Silva after he collided with Meireles's out-stretched boot. The Portuguese made a much more important contact on 33 minutes when he ran onto Sturridge's cross to shoot into the Shed End goal from eight yards out. Terry had begun the attack with a long pass out to Sturridge who cut into the area and bamboozled Clichy and co. before centring for the scorer to strike. The wet and windy weather was worsening but the outlook was brightening for Chelsea. Two minutes later, Meireles, who had escaped a booking for his foul on Silva, did see yellow after another high challenge, this time on Zabaleta. The game, as well as the score was now more even, and Terry robbed Balotelli and knocked a pass onto Drogba, only for the Ivorian to be barged to the ground by Kompany with the Man City defence looking stretched. Kompany was booked.
