match report Chelsea v Manchester City

Match Report Chelsea v Manchester City

David Luiz headed Chelsea into the lead against Manchester City before Ramires finished off the visitors in stoppage time.

The Brazilian duo found the net late in the game following a tense encounter at the Bridge. The win takes the Blues back up to third in the table, four points behind second-place Arsenal.

The opening goal crowned off a superb performance from David Luiz, who dominated alongsideJohn Terry in Chelsea's defence.

Fernando Torres returned to the starting line-up on his 27th birthday, he was joined up front by Salomon Kalou while Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka sat on the bench, both later to come on.

Branislav Ivanovic moved to right-back instead of substitute Jose Bosingwa. Michael Essien sat in front of the two centre-backs next to Frank Lampard.

The visitors were without talisman Carlos Tevez after the Argentinian failed a pre-match fitness test. Instead they lined up with Edin Dzeko as lone striker.

Before the game kicked-off, a minute's silence took place to commemorate the people whose lives have been lost or changed by the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Once the game started, Petr Cech was immediately called into action, denying a long-range David Silva effort. City continued to create the better of the opening exchanges and soon Cech was forced to block a Yaya Toure shot from 25 yards.

Chelsea retaliated, with Florent Malouda proving troublesome on the left flank as the Blues broke on the counter-attack. Before 10 minutes were up, the Frenchman twice latched onto long balls before crossing in towards Torres who was blocked by the visitor's defence.

By the 15-minute mark, City's early eagerness had diminished while the Blues were looking dangerous. Kalou had already worried the Manchester outfit with a scramble inside the box with Joe Hart before Ashley Cole shot over from 25 yards.

Lampard would also see an effort fly high before Malouda was brought down by James Milner 25 yards out from goal. The City midfielder was shown yellow for his efforts. Lampard stepped up to take the freekick but drilled a shot directly into the wall.

Chelsea were soon on the attack once more but after 30 minutes of football, had failed to produce a shot on target. A clever flick from Kalou feed Torres after the Ivorian collected a Lampard pass, but the subsequent shot was blocked and the resulting corner cleared.

The hosts' first shot on target came after 41 minutes when Kalou turned to shoot from six yards out, half-volleying a Malouda cross into Hart's grasp.

There would be time before the break for City to threaten again as a Silva cross was cleared by a lunging David Luiz before Terry and Kalou knocked heads clearing a corner. As a result the score would remain 0-0 at half-time.

There were no changes as the second-half got underway. Chelsea spent much of the first five minutes of the second period in the final third of the pitch and came close to scoring when Malouda shot into Hart's arms from close range.

Then Terry sustained an injury. While stretching to dispossess Yaya Toure, the Chelsea captain seemed to twist his right knee. Our number 26 received treatment while the stands sat in silence before jumping up, hobbling off the pitch and rejoining the game to rapturous applause.

Chelsea soon began to bombard City's defence in search of a goal. Long-range efforts from Malouda and Essien were both blocked before Ivanovic shot over from 25 yards out.

Undeterred, Chelsea continued to threaten and won a corner seconds later when David Luiz found Torres inside the box. The Spaniard shot but his effort was deflected for a corner, which in turn saw an Ivanovic header cleared off the line by Kompany.

Continuing his fine performance at the other end, David Luiz blocked a Dzeko effort from the edge of the box before the City forward headed a Milner freekick wide. Ramires was then shown a yellow card for attempting to clear the ball and instead connecting with Aleksander Kolarov.

With nearly 70 minutes of football played, Torres made way for Drogba and Malouda was replaced by Anelka. Chelsea's intent to win could not be clearer.

Then, as Kalou made way for Yury Zhirkov to enter the fold, David Luiz won another freekick, this time on the left flank. Drogba stepped up to take while the Brazilian took up his position in front of goal.

Following a perfect delivery, David Luiz headed home at the near post in front of the Matthew Harding Stand with 11 minutes of football to play. The move crowned off an absolutely brilliant game for the young defender.

Minutes later he nearly made it two, sliding at the far post in an attempt to tap home a Drogba freekick which Essien had narrowly missed in front of goal.

Then Cole drilled a shot goal-ward, only for it to be blocked, before Anelka shot wide. The Blues were dominating now, buoyed by the goal and the crowd's reaction.

And soon it was two. After latching onto an Essien ball, Ramires danced his way into the box, round Lescott and Kolarov, before drilling across Hart and into the far corner. That was after 91 minutes of football with four minutes of stoppage time being played.

The goal finish off the game, which ended with cheers from the Chelsea fans echoing around the ground. A confident, if late, win to take us back up to third in the Barclays Premier League, Man City beaten for the first time in four meetings.