Man City 1 Chelsea 0

Last updated : 26 September 2010 By Paul Lagan

Chelsea lost their first game of the season at Manchester City at Eastlands.

Had Branislav Ivanovic scored in the first half when his header crashed  off the City crossbar, it could have been a different story.

Chelsea could have won the game and gone 10 points ahead of them.

Second half efforts from Nicolas Anelka and a brilliant Michael Essien were squandered as City relied on the counter-attack.

Petr Cech had to be at his best to stop a low left-footed strike by Spanish wideman David Silva.

But Cech could not do anything when Ramires lost control in midfield and Carlo Tevez arrowed home a smart low, right footer on 59  minutes from just outside the Chelsea area.

Sadly if Chelsea don’t score early, they seem to struggle.

In the end, the sight of Didier Drogba being replaced by Daniel Sturridge showed that the game was up and Chelsea were looking to Tuesday’s Champions league game against Marseilles.

An Alex wayward header and a limp strike by Essien late on failed to alter the score.

“There was no space for us - so we hadn’t had a chance to score,” admitted a bemused Ancelotti.

Like Inter Milan showed last season, Chelsea can easily be stifled.

Like Inter Milan showed last season, Ancelotti failed to alter tactics to win the game.

Ancelotti played a weak side on Wenesday night to be dumped out of the Carling Cup. He got the tactics wrong today when it mattered and they lost.

Chelsea cannot afford another defeat on Tuesday.

Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Ivanovic, Alex, Terry (c), Cole; Essien, Mikel (Zhirkov 68), Ramires (McEachran 80); Anelka, Drogba (Sturridge 74), Malouda.
Unused subs Turnbull, Ferreira, van Aanholt, Kakuta.
Booked Mikel, Ramires, Alex.


Manchester City (4-3-3): Hart; Boyata (Boateng 88), K Toure, Kompany, Zabaleta; Y Toure, De Jong, Barry; Silva (A Johnson 78), Tevez (c) (Adebayor 86), Milner.
Unused subs Given, Lescott, Vieira, Jo.
Scorer Tevez (59)
Booked Zabaleta, Boyata

Referee Andre Marriner
Attendance 47,203