Manchester City 0-1 Chelsea
The Premier League title race is definitely a close with three teams within two points (Arsenal 55, City and Chelsea 53 and 53 points). The Blues title are higher than never this season..
Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho:
We are a team in evolution but this is the kind of performance that helps the team to grow up a lot. Tactically and mentally I think it was fantastic,’ enthused Mourinho.
‘A victory is a victory but a victory against a very good team is better than against an ordinary team. This is also good for the Champions League because we have big opponents so this is a good feeling and a good experience. Today was special.
‘We love the big games. When you love it maybe you feel extra-motivated. The best thing for our evolution is to play matches under pressure, to be close to the leaders, and today we came here and played against the leaders and we deserved it.
‘We defended very well and we very compact. The victory was only possible because Petr made a couple of fantastic saves, it was only possible because the defensive players played so well, it was only possible because the midfield players worked so hard, and it was only possible because the attacking players were giving a great contribution. Everyone did a fantastic job for the team.’
www.chelseafc.com
City coach Manuel Pellegrini:
“We lost today against a good team who played well and I thought we deserved at least a draw but they had the luck to win it.
“They scored a beautiful goal, not an easy goal, he hit it from a long way out with the outside of his foot but before their goal we had clear chances to score, so I don’t there was a problem with the way we played.”
“This game was not a problem of the midfielders. I didn’t make the other two substitutions because I didn’t think we could change the game by doing that. “For Chelsea it was an essential game. It was important because we could have been six points ahead but we’re just two points behind Arsenal in second.”
“I remember that we won all of the other big games. This is the first time we’ve lost a big game with five or six less players (including Fernandinho, Samir Nasri, Javi Garciaand Sergio Aguero) – maybe this defeat will have no psychological effect on our players.
“We’ll see in the next game how we continue.”
www.mcfc.com
