Tevez back in nick of time
Tevez, back from his six-month self-imposed exile from the north-west, had been thrown on after 65 minutes with his side trailing to a Gary Cahill goal and rapidly running out of ideas.
Within 12 minutes the smattering of boos that had greeted his arrival from homesupporters had been well and truly silenced as Michael Essien stupidly raised his hands in the area, handling a Pablo Zabaleta shot and allowing Sergio Aguero to score from the penalty spot.
More was to follow, however. With Tevez darting behind his front line and creating problems with a movement and touch clearly not dulled by his months spent in South America, he set up an 85th-minute winner for Samir Nasri.
The former Arsenal winger collected the ball on the left, fed Tevez with a pass and, as Frank Lampard failed to cover his run, Nasri burst into the area, collecting the perfect return ball from Tevez and converting calmly past the on-rushing Petr Cech.
“I’m really happy for him,” said match winner Nasri of Tevez. “He showed great spirit since he’s been back and showed in this match he can be really important until the end of the season. It’s good that it’s him that gave me this assist.
“At 1-0 we showed great spirit and that is really important as we want to win the title and we know we have to win every game.”
The victory marked City’s 20th consecutive home league win, a Premier League record that leaves Roberto Mancini’s side as only the fourth team in history to reach that landmark in the top flight.
And, of far more importance to the Italian, his staff and the City faithful, the win ends a recent dip in form and confidence, while cutting Manchester United’s lead at the top of the table to a solitary point.
“The only record I’m interested in is to win the championship,” said Mancini, before analysing Tevez’s contribution. “Carlo is maybe not 100 per cent but he knows football and he was important because he was incredible for us.
“Carlo knows he had to come off the bench and play 20 minutes in this game but he can play more in the future. He’s an important player, he needs another two or three weeks to have good form but when he plays, he knows where to take the ball.
“At times this season we have played fantastic football. I don’t think we have played well the last three or four weeks, we have been so-so, but after tonight something can change.”
Chelsea had opened the scoring on the hour in controversial fashion after David Luiz and Gareth Barry tangled as they competed for a half-cleared Juan Mata corner.
While City appealed for a foul, Cahill played on and his shot took an unkind deflection off the boot of Yaya Toure, wrong-footing Joe Hart on its way into the City goal.
For all the concerns surrounding City coming into the fixture, their start was certainly bright enough with Nasri controlling a Yaya Toure pass on his chest after eight minutes and clipping an excellent shot against the Chelsea crossbar.
City’s two goals soon changed the complexion of the game, and possibly the entire title race, and Aguero might have made the victory even more emphatic with an injury-time run and shot which passed just wide of the mark.
Chelsea manager Roberto di Matteo had few complaints with the penalty decision that proved a turning point and insisted third place is still within his team’s grasp.
“Two weeks ago we were seven points behind third , now we’re six so we are going in the right direction. We’re very disappointed we didn’t get at least a point.”
MANCHESTER CITY (4-4-2): Hart 7; Zabaleta 8, Richards 7, K Toure 6, Clichy 6; Silva 5 (Dzeko 75, 6), Y Toure 7, de Jong 5 (Tevez 65, 7), Nasri 9; Aguero 7, Balotelli 5 (Barry 46, 6).
CHELSEA (4-2-3-1): Cech 7; Ivanovic 5 (Bosingwa 20, 6), Cahill 8, Luiz 8, Cole 6; Mikel, Lampard 6; Ramires 6, Meireles 6 (Essien 58, 5), Mata 7; Torres 5 (Drogba 72, 6).
Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral).
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