16/10/2004  Manchester City 1 Chelsea 0

Jose Mourinho's unbeaten start as Chelsea boss was smashed apart at Eastlands as Kevin Keegan's produced a previously unthinkable display of defensive solidity to down the side who have made clean sheets an art form.
 
Arguments surrounding Nicolas Anelka's ninth-minute penalty will rage on long after the emotions of Saturday night's frantic Barclays Premiership encounter have subsided.

Chelsea have a plausible claim that Anelka's tangle with Paulo Ferreira occurred outside the area but equally, City can point to the fact that having determined there had been a foul, the visitors' full-back should have received a red card, not a yellow one.

Rarely has Keegan been so animated by the touchline as he vented his fury at the fourth official - and that was after Anelka had calmly stroked home his sixth goal of the campaign.

The effort ultimately proved decisive because Chelsea's strikeforce, whose tally of eight goals in eight games wasn't a concern to Mourinho as long as his team weren't conceding, couldn't find a cutting edge when they did.

Eidur Gudjohnsen wasted the best chance, screwing horribly wide late on after being set up by Frank Lampard.

But that would have been bad luck on Sylvain Distin and Richard Dunne, who performed heroically at the heart of City's rearguard, and David James, who produced three excellent saves either side of the break to deny Lampard.

Having lost nine of their last 10 Premier League meetings with Chelsea, the odds would have been stacked against City anyway.

Given the visitors impressive array of stars, an unbeaten start to Mourinho's tenure and a midfield injury crisis which cost the hosts Joey Barton and Claudio Reyna, few were willing to predict anything other than a comfortable away win.

Down the years though, City's loyal, long-suffering support have learned to expect the unexpected. It's not a situation Keegan particularly likes but even the former England coach has learned to accept it now.

Keegan himself has not been as impressed by Chelsea, or their manager, as he has by Arsenal and felt there were weaknesses to exploit in the Londoner's ranks.

Whether he felt it would be quite so simple as launching a long ball over the top is open to doubt but, with the visitors defence caught out of position by William Gallas' untimely slip, there were insufficient numbers around to snuff out the danger caused by Paul Bosvelt's 50-yard pass.

The aftermath of Ferreira's foul should probably have seen City handed a free-kick and certainly the end of the full-back's involvement. Instead, Webb decided on a penalty and a yellow card.

Keegan was livid, Mourinho kept his counsel and Anelka kept his head to become only the second player - after Southampton's James Beattie - to beat Petr Cech in a Premiership game this season.

For a while, City were so startled they didn't seem to know what to do next, push forward for a second or sit back.

In the end, they chose the former, which was just as well given Chelsea had started to seize the initiative, with Damien Duff particularly prominent.

The Irishman sent over a couple of tantalising crosses which Sylvain Distin and Danny Mills were at full stretch to deal with and Frank Lampard tested James for the first time with a long-range effort that skidded along a sodden surface Gallas had found so difficult to deal with.

Amid all this, City lost Sun Jihai, who appeared to pick up a knee injury in a collision with Eidur Gudjohnsen.

With Joey Barton and Claudio Reyna already on the sick list, it was a problem Keegan could ill-afford, although in Steve McManaman, he could at least call on plenty of experience as an instant replacement.

Ricardo Carvalho could not turn Chelsea's best chance of the opening period goalward in stoppage time after James' save from a twice-deflected Lampard free-kick flew into his path.

With Wayne Bridge introduced for Gallas at the interval, Chelsea emerged with increased vigour and two excellent saves from James denied Lampard and equaliser before the deposed England goalkeeper clutched a Gudjohnsen effort to his chest after the Icelandic international had smartly turned Sylvain Distin.

It was about the only time City's French skipper had been caught out all night and with Dunne equally solid in the face of an increasing wave of visitors' attacks, Mourinho, who had earlier placed a placatory arm round Keegan's shoulder following Carvalho's blatant foul on Paul Bosvelt, headed for the changing rooms in need of some comfort himself.





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