Carlos
Tevez returned to action and helped Manchester City come from behind to claim a
2-1 win over Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium.
Roberto Di Matteo's men had looked on course for a win as Gary Cahill's
deflected effort on the hour gave them the lead.
But City battled and were awarded a penalty with just 12-minutes left from time
when Michael Essien was penalised for handball and Sergio Aguero fired home.
Then with just five-minutes left, Tevez picked up the ball on the edge of the
box and he played through a wonderful ball for Nasri to latch onto and finish
past Cech.
The win means City are now back to within a point of leaders Manchester United
and they have now set a new Premier League record of 20 successive home wins.
Central issues
Both sides had come into the game with central defensive problems.
In the absence of Vincent Kompany and Joleon Lescott, Roberto Mancini solved his
by moving Micah Richards into the centre as Kolo Toure's partner and picking
Pablo Zabaleta at full-back.
Chelsea were more straightforward as Cahill and David Luiz were given the job of
subduing Mario Balotelli and Aguero.
The importance of victory for the hosts could hardly be understated and they
tore into their opponents from the first whistle.
Zabaleta had a shot deflected wide and David Silva scooped another over before
Nasri rattled the crossbar.
The former Arsenal man might not have lived up to the lofty expectations of him
following his summer move north, but he remains a class act.
And after taking down Yaya Toure's long pass magnificently on his chest, the
Frenchman lifted his first-time shot over Petr Cech, only to see it come back
off the bar.
Nasri was behind City's most incisive work but their next clear sight of goal
did not come until the half hour mark, and then the architect was a member of
the opposition.
Lampard was not thinking as he rolled a pass along the halfway line and Mario
Balotelli seized possession and raced forward to leave the Chelsea defence
streaming back in his wake.
However, Cech showed all his experience, staying tall and making the young
Italian decide which way to go. Balotelli went left and Cech dived to push it
round for a corner.
With Tottenham looming on Saturday, maybe a point would not have been the worst
outcome for the visitors.
Their performance was certainly far removed from the thrilling display that
eliminated Napoli from the Champions League seven days ago.
Fernando Torres was retained and he worked hard enough after finally breaking
that long goal drought.
Juan Mata only got close enough to support once in the first half though, and
his finish was poor.
In replacing Balotelli with Gareth Barry at half-time, Mancini was aiming to
fill the midfield.
The England man did his job too as it was his tackle that helped create the
attack that ended with Nasri firing a disappointing shot over from Toure's
lay-off.
Tight
Again, City tightened their grip on the game. Cech got his angles wrong as he
attempted to push Nasri's cross over and succeeded only in shoving it against
the bar instead.
Zabaleta turned the rebound into the six-yard box, where David Silva's flick was
deflected wide and from the corner, Sergio Aguero hooked a shot over.
It was only a matter of time before the opener arrived. But no-one expected it
to come at the other end.
City felt Luiz should have been penalised for a shove on Barry but referee Mike
Dean ignored the protests, which allowed the ball to run on for Cahill.
His shot would have been saved by Joe Hart without the massive deflection off
Yaya Toure that left the City keeper totally stranded.
That was the trigger for the arrival of Tevez. For so long as the row over his
non-appearance in Munich last September rumbled on, it seemed he had no future
at the club. Against all odds, he is still here.
And while the Argentinian still looks like he could lose a pound or two after
his extended career break, he retains the ability to make an impact.
It was his pass to fellow substitute Edin Dzeko that earned the corner from
which Michael Essien handled Zabaleta's shot.
Aguero is now City's number one Argentinian penalty taker and he coolly sent
Cech the wrong way.
But Tevez was not finished. With five minutes left, he collected Nasri's pass on
the edge of the area, turned and nicked the ball through to his team-mate, who
had continued his burst into the box.
This time Nasri found the finish too, cheekily nicking the ball over the
advancing Cech to send the stadium into uproar and breath fresh life into City's
championship challenge.
Teams
Manchester City
Hart,
Zabaleta, Richards, K. Toure, Clichy, Silva (Dzeko 76), Y.
Toure, De Jong (Tevez 66), Nassri, Aguero, Balotelli (Barry 46)
Subs Not Used
Pantillimon, Kolarov, Milner, Savic
Booked
Nasri
Goals
Aguero (pen) 78, Nasri 85
Chelsea
Cech, Ivanovic (Bosingwa 20), Luiz,
Cahill, Cole, Mikel, Meireles (Essien 58), Ramires,
Lampard, Mata, Torres (Drogba 73)
Subs Not Used
Turnbull, Essien, Malouda, Kalou, Sturridge
Booked
Mata, Lampard
Goals Cahill 60
Attendance
46,324
Referee
M. Dean
top