The home team came to win and make the FA Cup quarterfinals. The away team? Maybe it believed that by having their manager speak more than anyone else they’ll somehow get by. Manchester City dominated this one from top to bottom, beating Chelsea 2-0.
There wasn’t a single thing Chelsea did in the match that will be remembered as positive. Barely a chance or shot at goal, with Costel Pantilimon bored out of his mind. The matches between these two teams are always decided by the dominance in the middle of the park, and in a fantastic performance from Yaya Toure, getting plenty of help from Javi Garcia and James Milner, Manchester City got their revenge, looking like the best team in the Premier League.
Chelsea? A trio of midfielders didn’t help them look better than the hosts, and probably came out with too much of a defensive approach this time around. Manuel Pellegirni learned a lot from the previous encounter, while Jose Mourinho seemed pleased with trying to take this tie into a second leg and replay at Stamford Bridge.
Stevan Jovetic, something of a forgotten (and very expensive) man this season at the Etihad scored minutes after hitting the bar. Petr Cech looked shaky from the start, and Edin Dzeko dominating the Chelsea defense didn’t help him feel more confident. That pretty much affected the entire play of Chelsea through the afternoon, as the midfield came too much to help the defense, not moving forward when needed, resulting in only two shots at goal for Chelsea, non of them on target.
With plenty of chances coming in the box, the second goal was only a matter of time. Samir Nasri scored off a David Silva assist after Edin Dzeko’s attempt was blocked by Gary Cahill. Chelsea allowed Manchester City too much freedom in the box, and were lucky to go down back into the dressing room losing by only two goals.
The goal for both teams is the championship, but when you consider the confidence factor, Manchester City got a big win that should put them back on track towards the rest of the season, while Chelsea once again find out they’re not as good as their manager thinks they are.