Manchester City has jumped into fourth place in the Premier League after hammering league leader’s Chelsea 4-2 at Stamford Bridge.
It was just Chelsea’s third home defeat in over 150 Premier League and the squad’s first loss of the season at Stamford Bridge. At 61 points, Chelsea’s lead over Manchester United is now just one point.
Frank Lampard opened the scoring for Chelsea in the 42nd minute, but Manchester City equalized just minutes later against the run of play. Carlos Tevez found himself in on a breakaway in the 45th minute and somehow managed to make Ricardo Carvalho and John Terry look silly and get off a weak shot that dribbled past Chelsea goalkeeper Henrique Hilario. That made it 1-1 at halftime, even though the visitors had put together very little in the first half.
City would open the half well when Craig Bellamy would run down the line and score from an improbable angle to make it 2-1. John Mikel Obi kept Bellamy wide, but the City midfielder somehow scored from a ridiculously tight angle.
Things would go from bad to worse for Chelsea in the in the 76th minute when Juliano Belletti, who entered the game just minutes earlier, was sent off for taking down Gareth Barry in the box. Tevez would finish the penalty and give Manchester City a 3-1 lead.
Michael Ballack was then sent off from a second yellow card in the 81st minute for a dreadful tackle on Carlos Tevez near midfield, and Chelsea would be reduced to nine men. The visitors would take advantage of their numbers advantage in the 87th minute when Shaun Wright-Phillips found himself streaking in behind the Chelsea defense (at that point consisting of just Terry and Branislav Ivanovic). He played a ball across the goal mouth that Bellamy tapped in for his second goal, giving Manchester City a 4-1 lead.
Nicolas Anelka would draw a penalty in the 90th minute and Lampard would finish from the spot to give Chelsea a consolation goal, but Manchester City would take the emphatic 4-2 victory at Stamford Bridge.
All of the talk entering the game centered around Terry and Wayne Bridge (who did not shake hands before the match), but the true story was a monumental blunder from Chelsea (at home, none the less) and an incredible second half from Manchester City.
Arsenal now has the chance to pull within two points of Chelsea with a win in a later Saturday fixture with Stoke City, while Manchester United is just one point back of the leaders. The April 3 showdown at old Trafford between Manchester United and Chelsea now looks even more important, and Manchester City now controls its own destiny for the fourth and final Champions League spot.
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