{"id":87456,"date":"2015-02-01T08:37:57","date_gmt":"2015-02-01T08:37:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=87456"},"modified":"2015-02-01T08:37:57","modified_gmt":"2015-02-01T08:37:57","slug":"chelsea-maintain-5-point-lead-draw-man-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=87456","title":{"rendered":"Chelsea maintain 5-point lead after draw with Man City"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chelsea maintained their five-point advantage over Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table after a disappointing stalemate at Stamford Bridge.<\/p>\n

Loic Remy – in for\u00a0suspended leading goalscorer Diego Costa\u00a0– gave Chelsea the lead just before the interval but David Silva replied almost instantly for City after a rare error from goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.<\/p>\n

Chelsea had the opportunity to open up the sort of gap that would leave the reigning champions with a mountainous task to retain their crown.<\/p>\n

But a late substitution that saw manager Jose Mourinho replace scorer Remy with defender Gary Cahill illustrated that they were happier with the draw.<\/p>\n

Even the introduction of Frank Lampard, given a largely warm reception as he returned to the club where he is the record goalscorer with 211 in 649 appearances, could not provide a dramatic late twist to a largely uneventful tale.<\/p>\n

\"David<\/p>\n

Spain’s David Silva scored his seventh goal of the league campaign for City<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Chelsea missed the threat posed by Costa, banned for three games after his stamp on Liverpool’s Emre Can in the Capital One Cup semi-final, as well as the midfield influence\u00a0of injured Cesc Fabregas\u00a0and this was a performance clearly designed to avoid defeat and maintain that crucial lead over City.<\/p>\n

It was unambitious and lacked spark but City could not force the win. Mourinho will be satisfied with a point and while City boss Manuel Pellegrini would have wanted victory, his side at least earned a point to ensure Chelsea remained in range with an advantage that is not insurmountable.<\/p>\n

Mourinho’s decision to replace the menace and goal threat of Costa with Remy was a decision that was eventually rewarded with that opening goal just before half-time.<\/p>\n

In the early part of the half, however, it was City who looked more dangerous as Courtois was kept occupied by efforts from Fernandinho and Sergio Aguero, which he blocked.<\/p>\n

Aguero appears just short of the fitness and form that made him such a threat\u00a0before he picked up the knee injury against Everton in December,\u00a0and he still looked a little rusty as he missed the game’s best chance so far after 32 minutes.<\/p>\n

\"Frank<\/p>\n

Oscar succeeded Frank Lampard in the Chelsea number eight shirt<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

John Terry was caught slightly out of position by Martin Demichelis’ long clearance, allowing Aguero in behind with a clear run at Courtois but he steered his finish wide.<\/p>\n

As half-time approached Chelsea went ahead, when Eden Hazard stole in behind Bacary Sagna on to Branislav Ivanovic’s cross and Remy sidefooted in from five yards.<\/p>\n

Just as Chelsea and Mourinho contemplated an interval lead, City responded and equalised with a goal that was, in large part, the responsibility of the normally impeccable Courtois.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n\n
Shot-shy Blues<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
\n

Chelsea only had three shots in total, the lowest figure they have recorded in a single Premier League game since 2003\/04.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

He flapped badly at Jesus Navas’s cross and when Aguero fired his misplaced punched clearance towards goal, Silva made sure by applying the final touch.<\/p>\n

In a second half devoid of goal threat, Lampard was finally introduced with 14 minutes left to a reception that was largely applause but also contained some dissenting voices.<\/p>\n

He was barely involved and a draw was the almost inevitable outcome from a poor spectacle produced by the Premier League’s two top teams.<\/p>\n

\"Jose<\/p>\n

Jose Mourinho has lost just two of his 12 meetings with sides managed by Manuel Pellegrini<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"Eden<\/p>\n

Chelsea failed to muster a shot after Remy’s goal<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"Vincent<\/p>\n

Vincent Kompany is the only member of his team to have tasted victory at Stamford Bridge for City, 4-2 in February 2010<\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n

Source: BBC Sport<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chelsea maintained their five-point advantage over Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table after a disappointing stalemate at Stamford Bridge. Loic Remy – in for\u00a0suspended leading goalscorer Diego Costa\u00a0– gave Chelsea the lead just before the interval but David Silva replied almost instantly for City after a rare error from goalkeeper Thibaut […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[29,3],"class_list":["post-87456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-dr-mahamudu-bawumia","tag-ghana-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=87456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87456\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=87456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=87456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=87456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}