Jose Mourinho produced a tactical masterclass to inflict a first home league defeat of the season on Manchester City this evening.
Branislav Ivanovic scored the only goal of the game as Chelsea secured a valuable 1-0 victory over City in their Premier League clash at the Etihad Stadium, and the visitors also hit the woodwork three times over the course of the 90 minutes.
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The hosts were the first to threaten the opposition goal when Aleksandar Kolarov made his way down the left before sending in a dangerous cross, but Yaya Toure just failed to connect with it at the back post.
Toure turned provider shortly afterwards as he surged forward from midfield before playing the ball back to David Silva, but the Spaniard flicked his effort wide.
The visitors had a golden chance to take the lead just before the half-hour mark when they had a four-on-one break, but Ramires fired his shot straight at Joe Hart before Willian sent an acrobatic effort over the top.
However, Chelsea ahead just five minutes later as Ramires's blocked shot fell to Ivanovic, who powered a low effort into the bottom corner from 20 yards out.
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Mourinho's side almost doubled their lead on the stroke of half time when Eden Hazard's cross found its way to Samuel Eto'o, but the Cameroonian striker's effort from a tight angle came back off the woodwork.
The Blues picked up where they had left off in the second half and created another chance within three minutes of the restart.
Hazard danced past a number of challenges before feeding Ivanovic, whose shot was saved, and Willian's rebound was deflected wide.
Chelsea came even closer to a second shortly afterwards as Nemanja Matic let fly from distance, only to see his effort come back off the post.
The London outfit continued to push for a second goal and came within inches of finding it in the 67th minute when Gary Cahill's header from Willian's corner hit the post with Hart beaten.
City almost got an equaliser with just over 15 minutes left when Silva curled a free kick towards the top corner, but Petr Cech was on hand to claw the ball away.
Cech was called into action again late on as he tipped Stevan Jovetic's shot over the bar to help Chelsea see out a victory that ends City's eight-match winning streak in the league and puts them level on points with Manuel Pellegrini's side in the table.
Barney Corkhill
