Chelsea crashed to a 4-2 defeat at home to Manchester City, after Carlos Tevez, Craig Bellamy and Frank Lampard all scored twice. There were two penalties, two red cards and the infamous Wayne Bridge handshake snub, in a match that only heated up in the second half.
Florent Malouda continued at left back in the absence of Ashley Cole and Yuri Zhirkov, whilst Joe Cole was recalled, in place of Salomon Kalou. Hilario was the natural replacement for Cech in goal.
Whilst some City players showed obvious displeasure at shaking John Terry’s hand pre match, Wayne Bridge was defiant in looking Terry in the eye and moving on. Booed by parts of the crowd, he was later applauded by other Chelsea supporters upon his substitution.
Chelsea took the lead just before half time, Lampard finishing accurately from a Joe Cole through ball. However, just moments before the break, City equalised through Carlos Tevez. Mikel was the main culprit, heading backwards and leaving Carvalho and Terry stranded, Tevez twisting past them before scuffing a shot past Hilario.
City led just five minutes into the second stanza, Bellamy leaving Mikel for dead and firing past Hilario from a tight angle. Sturridge and Belletti were introduced for the disappointing Joe Cole and Mikel, but Belletti was soon sent off for conceding a penalty, converted by Tevez.
Michael Ballack was sent off for a second yellow card, leaving further gaps for City to expose. Wright-Phillips took advantage, bursting into space before squaring for Bellamy to tap in his second. Barry clumsily gave away a penalty of his own, Lampard converting with ease, but it was nowhere near enough and far too late to halt City charging into fourth spot.
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