It's Mourinho 2 Pellegrini 0

It was not 19th century football, nor were buses parked at Eithad Stadium. Manchester City finally failed to score at home, lost the opportunity to regain the top spot, and more significantly gives Chelsea the mental edge in the title race, having swept the series of this season. Both teams were not playing with their best XI. However, the difference being Manuel Pellegrini was forced to make changes that weakened the team; Jose Mourinho's moves were more tactically-driven.

Is Manchester City running short of options?

A statement makes little sense at all for a team whose second string still looks too strong for the competition, however, they looked toothless attempting to fight their way back against Chelsea and Pellegrini struggled to spring any surprise from his bench.

The absence of Fernandinho once again labels the weak point in their squad --- lack of a reliable central midfielder in Pellegrini's 4-4-2. On paper, having the defensive-minded Martin Demichelis would not undermine the free-scoring City much. The presence of Fernandinho is indeed equally important to that of Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero. Not only just being younger and able to cover a lot more grounds, his technique and vision also help open up space for Yaya Toure to roam forward. When City was trailing, this became particularly obvious when Yaya had to drop deeper to initiate attack, at the same time hinder his powerhouse potency.

Sergio Aguero's injury was also critical, who could potentially be devastating to Chelsea's defence, but City has little to complain when they still have the like of Negredo, Dzeko and Jovetic, while all failed to deliver and with Dzeko particularly disappointing.

Tactically out-battled

The dilemma was always there for Pellegrini: Should he retain the side that is unstoppable at Etihad, or should he opt for a more tactical approach against Chelsea? The result shows the latter might be the better way against the tactician master.

The unlikely hero --- Ivanovic

Jose Mourinho decided against playing his favourite no. 10 Oscar but granted Nemanja Matic a league debut who partnered David Luiz to protect the backline. City did have a couple of decent chances early in the match, but they needed to work harder than at White Hart Lane to break the defence, and gradually the momentum shifted to the Blues when Willian, Eden Hazard and Samuel Eto’o caught the opponents sleeping in counter attacks.

This attacking trio, as well as Ramires, all possess tremendous speed and are incredibly dangerous in counter attacks. At 33 years old, Demichelis further tilted the battle to Chelsea's side. Ramires would have brought the lead with better finishing following a 4-on-1 basketball-type fastbreak. Samuel Eto’o's shot only needed to be one inch lower to double the lead.

To compensate for the loss of attacking ability of Fernandinho, Pellegrini chose Kolarov over Clichy. Although Kolarov delivered a number of quality crosses, Mourinho successfully exposed the defensive liability at City's full back positions, as well as their weak spot in between the line. If David Silva mastered the victory against Tottenham in that position, City was in turn punished with a lack of cover in the similar spot.  

What could have been done?

Rather than sticking with two strikers, Pellegrini could have cast trust on his midfielders and field only one, especially with Negredo not being fit. While neither Dzeko nor Negredo had contributed much, James Milner could be a better option this evening. By placing him alongside Demichelis, the cover for fullbacks will be more assuring. Yaya Toure can also be liberalised to challenge the Chelsea defence more than it turned out. His versatility is also a plus when Pellegrini has to make in-game tactical changes.  

Yaya was kept busy on both ends of the field

With Chelsea's defence being exceptionally organised, overloading a flank would be an effective way to stretch their back four. Later in the game, Zabaleta and Jesus Navas combined to put together good efforts that put Cesar Azpilicueta, who had been solid at left back for the whole night, on the back foot. 

Nevertheless, they did not do enough of this, especially when winning goal-scorer Branislav Ivanovic was booked before the interval, but there were limited direct runs towards the right back in the second half.

Their quality in attack will enable them to conquer most of the teams playing with liberty, but to beat a team like Chelsea, you need to do something a little more special to get the better of the Special One.