Manchester City v Chelsea: full time report
Manchester City 1 Chelsea 0
A solitary goal from Carlos Tevez inflicted Chelsea's first defeat of the Premier League season at the City of Manchester Stadium.
The Manchester City striker again proved a constant menace to the reigning champions, and netted a superb solo goal midway through the second half, in an entertaining encounter between the two title contenders.
It was Tevez who was presented with the game's first chance in the sixth minute, although it was a rather opportunistic effort from the Argentina international.
His speculative shot from outside the area rolled harmlessly wide of Petr Cech's right-hand post, but it was a statement of intent from the hosts, who set their stall out with Tevez playing upfront on his own.
City manager Roberto Mancini deployed five midfielders to dominate the middle of the park, as the quintet constantly hassled and hurried the Premier League champions to good effect.
Chelsea, who came into this fixture with an average of four goals per game, were limited to shots from range inside the first 20 minutes and struggled to breach their opponent's makeshift defence.
The game's first shot on target didn't arrive until the 24th minute, when City defender Kolo Toure met James Milner's corner with his head, but Cech was able to gather comfortably.
Man City then survived a huge scare as Branislav Ivanovic hit the woodwork moments later. The Chelsea defender was unfortunate not to give the visitors the lead, and from the rebound, headed straight into the arms of Joe Hart.
A half-time scoreline of 0-0 was a fair reflection of the opening 45 minutes, but the game was to become increasingly stretched after the interval.
Carlo Ancelotti's side started the second half the stronger, and came agonisingly close to taking the lead moments after the break through Nicolas Anelka.
The former Manchester City striker struck a decent curling effort from just outside the area, which was tipped round the post by Hart. Chelsea's dynamic central midfielder Michael Essien, who has been prolific of late by his standards, then headed over from the resulting corner.
City responded well, and David Silva was the next player to get a shot off on goal. His low-drilled attempt from the left almost caught out Cech, but the Czech Republic international was quickly down to his near post and parried the ball out to safety.
That chance proved a precursor of what was the come next. Tevez picked up the ball from the half-way line and advanced towards the Chelsea defence, who were forced to back off. With the goal in his sights, the forward struck a low shot through the legs of Ashley Cole from the edge of the area, past Cech, and into the far corner of the net to hand Man City a priceless one goal lead.
It was the fifth consecutive time in which Tevez has scored past Chelsea, who were left shell-shocked by the Argentinean's moment of brilliance.
With 20 minutes of the match remaining, the visitors were still searching for a way back into the match. Essien almost grabbed a precious equaliser with a long-range drive, but the Ghanaian's shot whistled past the frame of the City goal. Then three minutes later he repeated the trick, only to see his shot fly harmlessly over.
Didier Drogba had endured a difficult afternoon at Eastlands, but it was still a surprise to see him substituted with 15 minutes of the match remaining for Daniel Sturridge.
It was a big call from Ancelotti, who knew that unless things changed, his side were about to leave the north west without a single point.
Like all true champions, Chelsea refused to give up and continued to press in search of an equaliser.
But City's defence remained resolute to secure a vital three points for the Premier League's big-spenders.
And it left Chelsea, who probably felt untouchable up until this afternoon, with one or two things to ponder.
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