3 Key Talking Points From Chelsea vs Manchester City (1-1) : Mourinho Settles For The Draw

Chelsea vs Manchester City (1-1): 3 Key Talking Points

Chelsea held Manchester City to a 1-1 draw and maintained their five point lead at the top of the table. In a first half, Loic Remy scored against the run of play to give the Blues a lead they scarcely deserved. But Mourinho’s side were unable to going into the break with a lead as David Silva expertly deflected Sergio Aguero’s shot after Thibaut Courtois spilled Jesus Navas’ cross. Although City piled on the pressure in the second half, the Blues held on in a second half in which was devoid of any goalmouth action.

Here are the major talking points from the game.

1. Mourinho settles for the draw

In the absence of the injured Fabregas and the suspended Diego Costa, Jose Mourinho was more than happy to take a draw on Saturday. When his side took the lead on Saturday, a lead which they scarcely deserved, the Portuguese manager would have been completely delighted. But a rare mistake from Courtois, albeit one that was the result of James Milner flashing past him meant that that lead didn’t last for very long.

If there was any doubts about what Mourinho wanted before the game, then the second half served as a reminder of just why he is so good in the big games. The Blues sat back almost in their own half and soaked up the pressure. Gary Cahill’s arrival with a few minutes to go, when there were already two center backs, merely showed that in a crucial game, that had so much riding on it, all he wanted was not to lose and his team certainly did that.

2. City fail to seize the initiative

Five points behind Chelsea at the start of the game, City knew that a defeat here would spell disaster for them in their bid to reclaim the league title. A draw would do them no harm, given the amount of games remaining in the season and had you given Pellegrini that at the start of the game, the Chilean would certainly have taken that.

But given the performance of his players and how dominant they were, it was no surprise to see the Chilean be disappointed with a draw which ensured that the situation remained unchanged at the top. Although the Blues had enjoyed a perfect record at Stamford Bridge and the visitors were without several key players, they still did more than enough to win the game. A win that would have brought them to within two points of the leaders. Whether this result will prove to be a decisive one in the title race, only time will tell, but one thing is for sure, City certainly let a golden opportunity slip.

3. Absentees make for dull, defensive affair at the Bridge

The game at Stamford Bridge was supposed to be a title decider. A top of the table six-pointer if you will. A game between two sides who had managed close to a 100 league goals between them this season. But major absentees in both sides meant that a titanic affair that was supposed to be filled with goals and plenty of action, saw surprisingly little in the form of goalmouth action. Or in the case of Chelsea, none after they took the lead in the first half.

If you had to pick two of the most important midfielders on both sides, Fabregas and Yaya Toure would probably be the answer that you come up with. But both players were missing on Saturday, the former through injury and the latter because of international duty. And the loss of the two mid-fielders was a telling blow for both sides. For Chelsea, Fabregas’ absence meant that they no longer had a creative outlet in midfield orchestrating things and their chief set-piece taker. For City, it was the player they count on, in tough, tight games such as the one on Saturday to open the deadlock through sheer force. And while many might criticize both managers for the rather dull and disappointing game on Saturday, there was little they could have done, without their go-to players in important games.