Manchester City (4-2-3-1):Hart; Zabaleta, Kompany, Mangala, Kolarov (Lampard, 78); Fernandinho (Navas, 73), Toure; Milner, Silva, Aguero; Dzeko (Sagna, 70).
Chelsea (4-2-3-1):Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Fabregas, Matic; Ramires (Schurrle, 62), Willian (Mikel, 62), Hazard; Costa.
Chelsea went into this game as a side who hadn’t dropped a point in any of their previous matches. They went to Etihad with hopes of causing an upset in the champions’ backyard. They were nearly successful in their mission. If not because of a familiar friend who turned foe as Frank Lampard scored against his former team to salvage a point for Manchester City.
The match began along the expected lines as Jose Mourinho’s team were content to sit back and hit their more attacking opponents on counter attack. There were very few moments of excitement as it was one-way traffic for most of the game.
The match sprang back into life in 71st minute when defender Pablo Zabaleta got sent off with his second yellow in the game for a rash challenge on Diego Costa. Chelsea with man advantage started to venture forward with more flair as they released their attackers from the shackles. The visitors capitalized on this as they went into a surprise lead with some brilliant counterattacking football by Diego Costa, Eden Hazard and Andre Schurrle. The German striker again was their impact player as he scored their solitary goal.
It was not over as far as Manchester City were concerned, as they struck inside 10 minutes of conceding with an uncanny outlet in Frank Lampard. Lampard, a Chelsea legend maintained his dignity as he averted his trademark celebration against his former side. It was one of those moments where he was applauded by both set of supporters without the usual bias.
He acknowledged that when he returned the applause in return after the full time whistle. With this goal, Frank Lampard became the only player to score against 39 different clubs including all his former clubs as well. This draw has opened the title race wide open with all the top teams droping points with the exception of Arsenal.
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