Closed Man City 2-1 Chelsea

[capriccioso 2,545]

Whenever you raise your hands like that, it's a definite penalty. That's why defenders are told to put their hands behind their back, to avoid these reflex moves

This man and his supporters would disagree.

[kingofchelseadom 41]

At the end of the day missing out on the cl may give is the much needed kick up the arse we need.

Well maybe yes. 1 season to reset would not be that bad. Less games and a top four finish would see us back again.

[kingofchelseadom 41]

Was a good game by two very good sides. City won it by margins, we haven´t been outplayed or anything. The peno was a bit harsh i think, there was nothing Ess could do, and of course it had to be TÄVÄZ with a little good moment setting up Nasri. Credit to them. Bit dissapointed, but City were very strong in the end. We matched an imperious side for most of the time.

David Luiz plays a lot simpler now, which is good and stays back a lot more. Man of the match for me.

Ramires isn´t a winger but i can see why RDM put him there instead of Daniel, the way he´s been playing lately.

Cahill: keep up the good work. Impresses me more and more.

Cahill is a good buy. Tevez makes me sick. Gets us everytime.

[capriccioso 2,545]

Don't worry about 4th place. We'll finish 5th, win the Champions League and boot out either of the North London scum

[Blue Armour 4,168]

I think we've seen many Chelsea performances like that down through the years, we didn't play particularly well on the ball, we set up to defend and we defended well and we managed to nick a goal, seemingly out of nothing. The difference here was that in the past our team were able to hold onto such a lead, these days the side isn't as strong, as quick, as agile as they once were.

A criticism often leveled, and quite right so, at our midfield has been a lack of creativity. That is a fair criticism because it is true, our midfield 3 has never been overly creative, however what you couldn't accuse them of is a lack of drive, each Chelsea midfielder was a top caliber athlete, rather than passing the opposition off the pitch, in their pomp they would bulldoze the opposition off the pitch and a lot of that drive came from midfield. These days Lampard's legs are on the wane (and he was caught badly for Nasri's goal), Meireles is painfully average, Ramires has the running power but lacks the technique, and in any case was stuck out on the right wing, Mikel was never very agile to begin with and these days Michael Essien's mobility more closely resembles Mikel's rather than that of his own in his prime. Romeu seemed to fall out of favour after his poor cameo against Man Utd, if that's what it took for him to fall out of favour then by that logic we should never see Essien again because it was a horror show out there.

In terms of positives, Petr Cech did well in goal. David Luiz was superb at the back, he has been quietly getting better and better this season, his performance against Napoli was one of true class and it was matched by his performance tonight, Gary Cahill also looked accomplished alongside him. Fernando Torres also looked good, buzzing around, he was clearly in the mood and he gave it his all, had a few classy moments and quality touches, never got the support or service near the City goal that his general play warranted.

All in all the result is not an unexpected one. Though yes it is a tough defeat to accept given the manner of it, the decision to award a penalty was debatable at best and that spurred City on to their equalizer and seemed to deflate our players somewhat. With Arsenal winning tonight and moving into third it seems to position Spurs as our main rivals to the 4th spot, they picked up a point tonight and have had a good lead over us for much of the season, Saturday's game is absolutely pivotal if we are to play Champions League football next season.

Good news is its only a niggling injury that's preventing him from starting..he'll be back soon.

[francozola 2,040]

This man and his supporters would disagree.

:doh: don't remind me

[Strike 6,968]

Don't worry about 4th place. We'll finish 5th, win the Champions League and boot out either of the North London scum

Yeah ryt....

[Blue Armour 4,168]

Doesn't change things much, if you ask me. Still need the wins against Spurs and Arsenal.

True, a draw would have been nice...Not too upset that we didn't win.

[capriccioso 2,545]

:doh: don't remind me

My apologies

Yeah ryt....

Not impossible. But highly unlikely, hence the ''

[Strike 6,968]

Well maybe yes. 1 season to reset would not be that bad. Less games and a top four finish would see us back again.

Luk at how its workd out fr livrpool....

Bt yh...chelsea s nt gonna sign shyte dis tym hopefuly...wit gud signins v cud challnge fr d title again

[Strike 6,968]

My apologies

Not impossible. But highly unlikely, hence the ''

Yhh...nythin cn happn in semis....and ds tym no tom ovrebo eithr!

[Hysteria 159]

MOM: Luiz, Cahill and Cech.

Luiz - Cahill look so good.

[Jase 43,479]

Still massively disappointed about the result. It look like it's gonna be one of those smash and grab game but we ended up with absolutely nothing in the end.

[tmessy 139]

“When Torres was in, Chelsea was winning 1-0, now as soon as he’s stepped off, City’s scored 2 goals. I’m just saying.”

— ESPN Commentator

Back to the drawing board rdm...

Still have faith in you Robbie

[tmessy 139]

Cahill, luiz, and Torres seemed the only ones giving a fuck... This game didn't taste well going down...

Just have to swallow it and start over

BUT if rdm starts drogba on Saturday, I'll he pissed, he didn't do anything on the pitch today to prove he is worthy of it...

[capriccioso 2,545]

Cahill, luiz, and Torres seemed the only ones giving a fuck... This game didn't taste well going down...

Just have to swallow it and start over

BUT if rdm starts drogba on Saturday, I'll he pissed, he didn't do anything on the pitch today to prove he is worthy of it...

He only had 15 minutes to prove himself and City were attacking for most of that.

[Jase 43,479]

Cahill, luiz, and Torres seemed the only ones giving a fuck... This game didn't taste well going down...

Just have to swallow it and start over

BUT if rdm starts drogba on Saturday, I'll he pissed, he didn't do anything on the pitch today to prove he is worthy of it...

Most fans had probably wanted him to start after his performance against Napoli. But now because he didn't do anything, people want him out. Fickle.

[coolhead23 1,146]

The disappointment with this result was just not the loss but the way we lost. I wasnt expecting us to win in the first place because there is a huge difference in terms of the quality between the 2 teams, however what pissed me was that despite everything we went up in the front which gave every other Blues fan the hope that Maybe just maybe ..... And then we went into berserk mode and gave it too easily ... something which we have been doing all season.