Manchester City – Chelsea

1. Mark Hughes may have been wrong to describe Manchester City's game against Chelsea today as bigger than the Liverpool Manchester United clash that kicked off earlier but hey - size isn't everything.

2. What with two ex-Chelsea men with a point to prove lining up for City, the huge injection of cash that enabled the Manchester side to snatch Robinho from under Chelsea's nose and Scolari adding to the flavour of this game by revealing he turned down the chance to manage City, it makes for a mouthwatering match. The clash of the cash awaits!

3. Actually Ben-Haim starts on the bench for the home side but Robinho partners Jo up front for the first time.

4. Eastlands is noisy and bathed in a bight light. Is this the start of a new dawn for City? They get us underway.

5. Robinho's first touch of the ball is greeted with cheers from the home fans with a small but vocal London-accented chorus of boos emanating from a corner of the stadium.

6. 2'

   Malouda ventures forward but Shaun-Wright Phillips gets back to shepherd the ball behind for a goal-kick.

7. 2'

8. 4'

   Robinho wins the ball and then finds Wright-Phillips after performing a little step-over. Wright-Phillips shot is poor but the anticipation crackles around Eastlands every time Robinho gets possession.

9. 5'

   Ashley Cole tries to find the clearly marked Joe Cole (Cole of the Joe is sporting a bandage following his midweek injury) with a cross but Richard Dunne is on hand to clear the danger.

10. 7'

    Corner to City which Wright-Phillips takes. Chelsea clear it though but the returning Wright-Phillips was warmly received by the City fans as he went over to take the corner.

11. 8'

    Robino tries a lay off which does not quite work. Then Deco is felled by Kompany who concedes a free-kick.

12. 10'

    Nice ball from Ireland puts Chelsea under pressure and Carvalho fouls Jo about twenty-five yards from goal. Dangerous.

13. 12'

    GOAL: UNBELIEVABLE - Robinho has stroked home the free-kick with some style and a new hero is born in Manchester. A great free-kick bends over the wall leaving Cech with no chance. He celebrated by sticking his thumb in his mouth (if you are interested in that sort of thing). Incredible start to his Manchester City career.

14. 14'

    Wright-Phillips tracks back to concede a corner.

15. 15'

    GOAL: Ricardo Carvalho comes up from the back and gets a bit of luck as Joe Cole gets in the way of a John Terry header. The ball bounces back to Carvalho who makes no mistake from six yards out.

16. 17'

    Jo wins a corner at the other end.

17. 17'

    Which Frank Lampard heads away. City will be kicking themselves for allowing the wind to be taken out of their sails so quickly after Robinho's goal.

18. 18'

    City fans scream for a foul as Wright-Phillips runs in to John Terry but the ref waves play on.

19. 19'

    Another nice touch from Robinho brings gasps of appreciation from the stands. He has made a fine start to this game.

20. 20'

    Nicolas Anelka - another player returning to his old club today - tries an effort from long range which is high wide and not very handsome.

21. 21'

    Good strong challenge from Dunne wins applause from the City fans.

22. 22'

    Bosingwa this time trees up Anelka from the right who flashes a header wide when he really should have hit the target.

23. 23'

    Fantastic flick from Jo to reach Ireland who then cuts inisde well before teeing up a shot from the edge of the penalty area. He needs to keep his effort low which he fails to do though and he holds his head in his hands as the shot sails over.

24. 26'

    Mark Hughes looks distraught at a refereeing decision which does not go City's way but he will be more than happy with his team's performance so far.

25. 27'

    He would not have been pleased if Malouda's header had been allowed to stand as he was clearly offside. The linesman missed it though and instead the ball cannoned off the City crossbar. A let off for the home side.

26. 28'

    Robinho tracks back this time to follow the run of Ashley Cole and make sure the ball goes behind for a goal-kick.

27. 30'

    Great tackle on Jo from Carvalho as it looked like the Chelsea defender had lost his man.

28. 31'

    Malouda is flagged offside this time although the danger was non-existent.

29. 32'

    Stephen Ireland reads Deco's pass intended for his fellow Portuguese Bosingwa to break up a Chelsea move. City get it up to Jo who closes in on goal and his curling shot hits John Terry to go for a corner.

30. 33'

    City can't make anything of it. Jo though has also looked a huge threat and if he can endure the harsh Moscow winters the Manchester rain he will doubtless face in the coming months should hold no fears for him.

31. 36'

    Bosingwa floats another deep cross in but an unchallenged Joe Hart claims it with ease.

32. 37'

    Apparently eight hundred million people around the world (in case you wondered) are watching this game! Hopefully they don't all go out for a cup of tea at half-time.

33. 38'

    Wright-Phillips dumps Malouda on the floor but Chelsea have to make do with a throw-in deep in City's half. They end up with a corner though as this time Wright-Phillips tackles Cole cleanly to concede. Joe Hart strides from his goal-line though to pluck the ball from the air.

34. 39'

    Bosingwa's cross finds Malouda but his header is poor and off target.

35. 41'

    Joe Hart has to look sharp after a poor clearance from Zabaleta across the face of his goal puts City in trouble. His effort finds Anelka but Hart does well to save the Frenchman's low shot and Zabaleta's blushes.

36. 43'

    City have allowed Chelsea to take the initiative in this game and Scolari's men should be in front given the amount of chances that have opened up for them.

37. 44'

    Wonderful wing play from Wright-Phillips ends with a free-kick for City and a booking for John Obi Mikel.

38. 45'

    Ashley Cole decides to shoot as the City defence backs off and he is inches away from scoring with a fierce drive.

39. 45'

    HALF-TIME: Chelsea are ahead on points but it's all square at the break. City have looked bright when they have attacked though and will be looking to press the visitors more in the second half.

40. 45'

    Joe Cole, who has bandages on his feet as well as his head, gets the second half started.

41. 45'

    Wright-Phillips skips away from one challenge and sets off on a run down the right before finding Robinho. He loses out but there is the genesis of a decent understanding developing between the two already.

42. 46'

    A few step-overs from Robinho before he gives away possession carelessly.

43. 47'

    Carvalho guides the ball back to Cech as City probed the Chelsea backline.

44. 48'

    Wright-Phillips is showing a marvellous appetite for this game and the mystifying award of a free-kick as he puts in another firm, clean tackle brings Mark Hughes to his feet in astonishment.

45. 49'

    Frank Lampard snaps a shot just over the City crossbar from a tight angle.

46. 50'

    More step-overs from Robinho but again he over-hits a pass this time to Zabaleta.

47. 51'

    Didier Drogba is warming up on the sideline and could be about to make his Premier League bow for this season.

48. 52'

    GOAL: Frank Lampard makes no mistake this time to score with a fantastic angled shot. Chelsea charge forward with pace and Lampard shows quick feet first to beat Richard Dunne, then to fire a shot in from about sixteen yards out. Great goal.

49. 53'

    Ireland hesitates to shoot at the other end and instead Robinho has a go but his shot is blocked for a corner which City waste.

50. 55'

    Jo's pass to Wright-Phillips seemed to take an age to reach the winger, allowing the gap that had opened up for him in the heart of the Chelsea defence to be quickly closed.

51. 57'

    Terrible shout for offside from the linesman to unjustly penalise Malouda.

52. 59'

    Anelka gets in behind Richards as Lampard picks him out with a long ball. Anelka appeals for a free-kick as Richards muscles him away from the ball but the ref judges it to have been a legitimate show of strength when it was actually a clear shove. A stonewall penalty. Just after this Chelsea go close again from a corner. They should be well ahead by now.

53. 61'

    Zabaleta, who is not having a wonderful afternoon, shoots from an ambitious range and distance with predictably woeful results.

54. 63'

    Wright-Phillips again does well coming in from the right but his pass to Ireland is just behind the Irishman. It's still a good chance though but Ireland has to halt his run alllowing Chelsea time to get back and concede a corner when it could have been a goal.

55. 65'

    Lampard comes close to scoring again with a cleanly hit drive which Hart just about gets his weight behind.

56. 67'

    Drogba takes a long lug from his bottle as he receives some final instructions from Scolari who looks as if he is about to launch both Drogba and Belletti in to the fray.

57. 68'

    Robinho has a free-kick given against him when it looked as if it should have went the other way.

58. 69'

    GOAL: Nicolas Anelka may have ended this game as a contest when he converts after a marvellous weighted pass from Joe Cole. Anelka coolly dispatches his shot around Joe Hart.

59. 70'

    Joe Cole has been withdrawn along with Malouda as the expected Chelsea substitutions are made.

60. 72'

    Despite the clamour around their side their has been a noticeable flat atmosphere at the City of Manchester Stadium this evening and the home support seem now to have accepted City's fate this afternoon.

61. 75'

    Drogba's first touch finds Mikel who rampagaes through the middle before coming up against the immovable object that is Richard Dunne.

62. 76'

    John Terry has been sent off for rugby tackling Jo as he skipped past him. Terry had been put in trouble after Jo was gifted possession by Deco but his challenge was clumsy at best and he received a straight red, the first of the Chelsea skipper's career. Can City make their numerical advantage tell?

63. 79'

    Alex has come on the the Blues to shore up their defence.

64. 79'

65. 80'

    Stephen Ireland's shot with the outside of his boot curls wide of the Chelsea goal. They will have to do better than that in these last ten mintues.

66. 81'

    Cole attempts a counter attack then seems to hesitate as he entered Man City's half. City regain possession and this time Ireland does well to come inside before squaring to Michael Ball. The full-back has not scored in the Premier League for seven and a half years and the resulting shot provides good evidence of why.

67. 83'

    Danny Sturridge comes on for Ball.

68. 85'

    City are looking short on ideas and Robinho has been posted largely missing in the second half. His tricks are not coming off and he looks a little off the pace as the game winds down.

69. 87'

    Terry was dismissed for 'serious foul play' so will be banned for three games including Chelsea's vital clash with Manchester United.

70. 88'

    Alex races back to get to a ball Jo was chasing and has the legs to reach it first. Jo's influence has also waned in this half and he looks tired.

71. 90'

    Danny Sturridge almost gets one back for City after showing neat feet but two Chelsea defenders slide in as he blasts a shot towards Cech's goal and they just do enough to concede a corner.

72. 93'

    FULL-TIME: The spotlight was on City and their big new signing but Chelsea stole their limelight with a polished, assured performance. They responded immediately to the impudence of Robinho's goal and once they levelled they systematically went about dismantling Mark Hughes's game-plan. Lampard and Joe Cole were particularly impressive. City may have more money than the London side, but it will take more than cash to mould them in to the sort of effective unit Scolari has at his disposal.

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