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OFFICIAL B*LL*X
Maybe it had to happen, and Roberto Mancini has always maintained that somewhere along the way defeat would come knocking.
Perhaps a more deserved defeat would have been easier to take.
While most reports highlight the fact that the Blues' luck was right out at Stamford Bridge, the Telegraph declares that "Chelsea have done the rest of the Premier League a favour".
That's the headline over Jason Burt's piece and probably reflects the general feeling outside east Manchester, especially, we're guessing, in one or two TV executives' offices.
As Burt opines, perhaps a tad dramatically: "A victory for City and they would have been champions-elect. Instead they lost for the first time this season and Chelsea not only hauled themselves back into contention but blew the title race wide open."
So, game on then eh, Jason? That won't do the ratings any harm either.
He adds: "For half an hour City were irrepressible and should have been out of sight before Chelsea’s equalising goal. City shelved the disappointment of a Champions League exit and came to the Bridge to attack.
"Full marks to Roberto Mancini for unleashing the creative talent at his disposal and it was only with a slice of fortune, and a tactical reorganisation, that Chelsea worked their way back into the contest."
Over on London24.com, Paul Logan reckons Roberto was "seething after his side's 2-1 defeat". He quotes the manager's sarcastic verdict: "I agree with all the decisions the referee made. Perhaps he (the ref) did not see it as it was raining."
Logan adds Mancini's more serious comment: "We had a clear penalty. Everyone saw it - even people not in the stadium saw it."
Graham Poll certainly saw it. Unfortunately he's no longer a referee, but he tells readers of his Mail column: "Manchester City should have been awarded a penalty when David Silva was clearly tripped by Jose Bosingwa midway through the first half.
"Silva's trickery fooled the Portuguese defender and the contact was clear. Mark Clattenburg had a good, unobstructed view but waved aside City's appeals, perhaps unsure of the contact.
"Chelsea also benefited from Clattenburg not seeing a poor Raul Meireles tackle on Silva which escaped an obvious yellow card. Meireles was later cautioned for a reckless tackle on Pablo Zabaleta.
"However, Manchester City did not benefit from such leniency as two rash challenges from Gael Clichy on Daniel Sturridge both correctly resulted in yellow cards."
We've looked in vain for "A Bridge Too Far" headlines. But they'll be out there somewhere ...

Manchester City's Roberto Mancini shrugs off Ashley Cole comments following defeat to Chelsea
The full-back was thought to have aimed words the way of the visiting staff and players in the wake of the 2-1 victory at Stamford Bridge, but the Italian was not concerned
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has dismissed Chelsea’s Ashley Cole following the London outfit’s 2-1 win over the table toppers, with the full-back thought to have riled up the visitors in the tunnel after the final whistle.
The league leaders started the brighter of the two teams, going ahead through Mario Balotelli after just two minutes. However, a Raul Meireles strike and a penalty from Frank Lampard enabled Chelsea to take all the spoils and leave City with their first taste of defeat in the campaign.
Mancini admits he did not understand what Cole had said, but says he can be happy if Chelsea were riled up and excited because it meant they thought his side were a "top team".
The Italian told reporters: “I don't know if Cole said something, I didn't understand it, but if the Chelsea players are saying we are a top team, for us that's really important. They were lively because they beat a top team.”
Lampard, the man with the winning goal, admits such results leave players highly emotional but insists there is still respect between the two sides.
“Sometimes you get overheated,” he said. “Big games, big players who want to win things on both sides, and there was a bit of frustration.
"I've been involved in that before but there's general respect from both teams to each other."

Roberto Mancini bemoans penalty decisions against Chelsea
Mancini disappointed to see unbeaten run end
Roberto Mancini said he disagreed with two penalty decisions as Manchester City's 14-game unbeaten league run came to an end with a 2-1 defeat by Chelsea.
City were leading 1-0 when they were denied a penalty after David Silva was tripped while Joleon Lescott's handball allowed Chelsea to score a late winner.
"The referee was too close to decide this and probably didn't see it," City boss Mancini said of Silva's claim.
"He saw very well their penalty, he was really sure. I don't agree with him."
Chelsea defender Jose Bosingwa appeared to catch Silva just inside the penalty area as City's midfielder tried to skip past him but referee Mark Clattenburg, who was just a few yards away, waved play on.
"It was probably because it was raining and cold that he didn't see the penalty because all the stadium saw the penalty, only he missed it," Mancini added.
Title bid back on track - Villas-Boas
Frank Lampard came off the bench to earn Chelsea a vital win which puts them third, seven points behind Mancini's league leaders.
The English midfielder scored after Lescott was penalised for handling the ball following Daniel Sturridge's shot.
Before that, City were reduced to 10 men on the hour when full-back Gael Clichy received his second yellow card and they failed to hang onto a point after Raul Meireles equalised following Mario Balotelli's second-minute opener.
Mancini bemoaned his side's inability to score more than one goal in a first half they dominated for long periods, and admitted that the sending off was the turning point.
"I think we deserved to score two or three goals in the first half because we did a fantastic performance but in football if you don't score you can lose and after the sending off it was difficult to play," he said.
"Chelsea played better when we had 10 players and before that they didn't take any risks.
"I think we are strong enough for the next game [against Arsenal] and I hope we can do another 14 games without defeat.
"December and January will be crucial months for us and it was important not to lose this game. The season is very long, and all the teams can play for the title.

OTHER BOLLOX
Crystal Palace defender Nathaniel Clyne has been targeted by Sir Alex Ferguson as the ideal replacement for Gary Neville, who retired last season. The England Under-21 international impressed during the recent Carling Cup win over Manchester United. Daily Mail

After agreeing a deal to sign Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka, Shanghai Shenhua are now eying a move for his Blues team-mate Didier Drogba. London Evening Standard

Tottenham are poised to make an ambitious January move to take Real Madrid misfit Kaka on loan for the rest of the season. The 29-year-old Brazilian has struggled to find a place in the team under Jose Mourinho and is likely to be sold in the summer, if not sooner. Daily Express

Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cotterill is considering selling £1.5m-rated Lewis McGugan in an attempt to raise funds for a new striker. Daily Mirror

West Brom manager Roy Hodgson is still unsure whether he will be dipping into the transfer market in January admitting there are still players at the club who are pushing for starts. Birmingham Mail

Arsenal are believed to be preparing to make a move for Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema. footylatest.com

Wolves manager Mick McCarthy expects the form of Steven Fletcher to catch the eye of several managers before the end of January. The Scottish striker has now scored 16 goals in his last 23 matches. Birmingham Mail

Tottenham are ready to spend big to sign Lille striker Moussa Sow. The Senegal international has scored 29 goals in 48 games and is expected to cost around £18m. talkSHIT

Aston Villa boss Alex McLeish has denied claims in some newspapers that midfielder Stiliyan Petrov will be sold in January. Birmingham Mail

QPR are believed to be leading the race to sign Fulham's Bobby Zamora, who is set to leave the club in January. Sunderland and Aston Villa are also said to be interested in the striker who could cost £10m. Daily Mail

Liverpool have won the race to sign Wycombe youngster Jordan Ibe. The 16-year-old had also caught the eye of Manchester United and Tottenham after scoring against Sheffield Wednesday in October. talkSHIT

Chelsea are now said to have joined the chase for Newcastle midfielder Cheik Tiote, who is already attracting the attentions of both Manchester United and Tottenham. Footie-online

Bolton will turn their attentions to Crawley's highly-rated 24-year-old defender Kyle McFadzean if Gary Cahill is sold in next month's transfer window. Daily Star

Rangers boss Ally McCoist has opened contract talks with United States international midfielder Maurice Edu, who has been targeted by Blackburn. Daily Record

Celtic have been given first refusal on 23-year-old Senegal international striker Baba Diawara, currently top-scorer in Portugal with Maritimo.
(Daily Record)

Celtic are considering an appeal against their £13,000 fine for pro-IRA chants by their supporters.
(Daily Record)

Barnet manager Lawrie Sanchez has denied having any contact with the Irish Football Association about returning to the international fold to replace Nigel Worthington. London Evening Standard

Midfielder Steven Reid is warning his West Brom team-mates to beware the threat of his former side Blackburn Rovers when the two sides meet at Ewood Park on Saturday. Birmingham Mail

Stoke are facing a probe by the FA for their use of towels during Sunday's win over Tottenham Hotspur. Ryan Shotton was wearing a towelling top under his shirt which he used to dry the ball, before launching his long throws. Daily Mail

More Bollox soon ...

EVENING BOLLOX
Chelsea's win breathes new life into title race - Phil McNulty
As Chelsea's players ignored a raging storm to gather in a huddle, the renewed hope that spread around Stamford Bridge was stretching to the rest of the Premier League.
The Blues had finally made league leaders Manchester City blink after 15 games - and every managerial rival hoping to detect vulnerability in Roberto Mancini's team gave thanks to Andre Villas-Boas.
The Portuguese declared Chelsea's pursuit of the title open for business once more following a 2-1 win that grafted his new philosophies on to old values of resilience and sheer bloody-mindedness after City had threatened to overwhelm his side.
And back in Manchester, Sir Alex Ferguson's world suddenly seems a much better place as Chelsea's victory keeps City's advantage over Manchester United at just two points.
Even those on the fringes of the race will have raised a smile.
It was hardly a night to detect cracks in City's armour given they were magnificent for 25 minutes, but the arrival of fallibility in their league form presents a new challenge for Mancini's expensive and impressive squad.
City have gone out of the Champions League and suffered their first league loss in the last week. It's not a blip exactly, but a credible test of potential champions is how they respond to the first big disappointments.
Mancini was philosophical but frustrated, not just with officialdom but also the carelessness of City, who, as they did in the recent draw at Liverpool, toyed with their opponents in the early stages before losing control and conceding momentum.
It only cost City two points at Liverpool, but the price was more expensive at Stamford Bridge, although Mancini had a very good case for his post-match complaints about referee Mark Clattenburg.
With City leading 1-0 after Mario Balotelli's goal inside two minutes, David Silva appeared to be clearly upended by Jose Bosingwa. It wasn't a penalty, according to Clattenburg, who then failed to punish the Spaniard's spectacular fall. If not a penalty, then presumably a dive? Neither, apparently.
It was a decisive moment, an incident that heartened Chelsea and unsettled City. Against the run of play, Raul Meireles equalised and, after Gael Clichy's nightmare match was ended by a second yellow card, substitute Frank Lampard proved there was life in the old dog yet with a late penalty after the raised arms of Joleon Lescott blocked Daniel Sturridge's goal-bound shot.
For Villas-Boas and Chelsea, it continued a run of results that have increased the 34-year-old Portuguese manager's authority, given him a greater measure of control, demonstrated his tactical flexibility and his willingness to fight his club's corner, even against those who have no wish to fight him for it.
Villas-Boas couches much of his analysis in coach's techno-speak, describing Chelsea's retreat from defending with a high line as "reaching the zone of comfort in the medium block" - but it has been the return of some of the basic, old-fashioned steel and dogged determination that has done much to help reinvigorate their season.
And they needed it on Monday to survive an opening spell from City that threatened to blow them away with the same force as the winds and rain that lashed west London throughout an enthralling encounter.
Chelsea dug deep and, once they wrestled momentum from City, refused to hand it back, although they were aided by numerical advantage.
In Villas-Boas, they have a feisty, fascinating leader. The spiky nature was on show again in his after-match inquest - not the "slap in the face" for the media that followed victory against Valencia, but certainly a little slap on the wrist.
It has been a good few days for Villas-Boas and Chelsea, topping their Champions League group and moving closer to the leading pack in domestic competition. But a polite suggestion that he may recently have stumbled on his successful formula was emphatically swept away. "I don't stumble across things," he said. "If we stumbled across things we would be called incompetent but we are competent people."
He likes a verbal joust, also attacking claims he had ordered players to celebrate goals with him. More will come before the season's end.
More tests await Villas-Boas and Chelsea, particularly at Tottenham before Christmas, but this was a big result for coach and team. To beat the previously unbeatable, at least in the league, brought a thunderous Stamford Bridge to its feet and Chelsea's players together in celebration - some of the old swagger was back at the final whistle.
It is not only Chelsea's team that will gain confidence, so will their young manager.
Mancini, even in defeat, can reflect on a superb start to the season in the knowledge that City's position at the head of the Premier League is not false. The trick now is to ensure the first league setback is corrected as swiftly as possible, starting against Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
If City had survived to earn a point with 10 men at Chelsea, it would have amounted to a real statement of intent about their strength and ability to cope in such adversity. To fall short seven minutes from time does not amount to a calamity but the manner in which they passed over complete command of the game will not be lost on Mancini.
Some of City's play in the opening passage was glorious, flowing and graceful. Sergio Aguero produced moments of genius while Silva and Balotelli played around him.
Chelsea, however, have shown City can be beaten and they, along with Manchester United, Spurs and anyone else with even the slightest aspirations to the title, will study the league leaders response in the hope of detecting further flaws they might exploit.
City can close down part of that debate with a convincing win against Arsenal on Sunday - but this first defeat has finally given their rivals something to cling to.

City Close To Signing £10M Man But He Wants To Play For United!
Manchester City are attempting to steal Croatia’s hottest prospect, Mateo Kovacic , from under the noses of city rivals Manchester United .
Officials from the blue half of Manchester met with representatives of the Dinamo Zagreb attacking-midfielder earlier this week as they looked to edge ahead of the competition for Kovacic’s signature.
Although talks between both parties were said to be positive, the 17 year-old star is understood to prefer a move to the red half.
A source told Goal.com, “Manchester City is an exciting project and a wonderful club that interests Mateo. But at the moment, he would rather move to Manchester United when the right time comes to leave.
“He is only 17 so right now he needs to play and grow as a player.”
Kovacic is quickly developing into a huge talent with Croatian pundits comparing him to the likes of Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and fellow countryman Luka Modric . After making his first senior appearance for Dinamo last year at just 16 years of age, Kovacic has become a regular fixture in the first-team whilst also braking into the Croatia Under-21 side.
Big things are expected from the teenage sensation. Croatia’s Under-17′s manager, Martin Novoselac, reportedly had this to say about Kovacic after he made the step up to the Under-21′s, “I haven’t seen a youngster with so much talent since the days of Robert Prosinecki.”
Glittering performances on the pitch and such high praise off it have led to interest from the usual European super-powers, such as Bayern Munich and Juventus. Dinamo value their golden boy at £10m, a price Arsenal reportedly refused to pay during the summer as they deemed it too expensive.
Representatives of Kovacic and his club are well aware of Sir Alex Ferguson ’s interest. However, a move away from Zagreb in January is unlikely as he is expected to remain with the Croatian League 1 leaders until the end of the season but a move to the Premiership in the not-so distant future is a strong possibility with Old Trafford being his probable destination.

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Chelsea defeat will only make City stronger, insists Roberto Mancini
Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has urged his players to take strength from their first Premier League defeat of the campaign. City are experiencing their first wobble of the season, having been knocked out of the Champions League last week before going down 2-1 at Chelsea on Monday night.
Yet they remain odds-on favourites to clinch their first championship since 1968 and Mancini is certainly not giving any sense of self-doubt.
‘At this moment, we should be very strong,’ said the Italian.
‘It is at these moments that you become stronger, as players and a team. For this reason, the result is a lesson for us.’
City went 1-0 ahead at Stamford Bridge through an early Mario Balotelli goal, and should have had a penalty when David Silva was clearly tripped by Jose Bosingwa inside the penalty area.
The night turned sour though, with Gael Clichy sent off and the Londoners coming back to claim the win.
‘If the Silva penalty had been awarded, probably the game was finished,’ added Mancini. ‘After the sending off it was a different match.’
Arsenal visit Eastlands on Sunday and City midfielder James Milner believes the players will put defeat behind them quickly.
‘We are disappointed but now it is in the past,’ he said.
‘The positive side is that we have another game coming up. We will be back in, working as hard as we can.
‘If it was possible to give even more then we would. The hunger is still there. If anything, there is even more incentive to bounce back with an even bigger performance at the weekend

Manchester City and United should seize chance for Europa League glory
Arrogance about merits of Europa League is not in the interests of Sir Alex Ferguson or Roberto Mancini
The road from Manchester to Bucharest promises to be tiring, challenging, tactically intriguing, culturally stimulating and, in places, incredibly hard to read.
No one knows quite how many rounds of the Europa League Manchester City and Manchester United will manage to navigate but assumptions that Roberto Mancini and Sir Alex Ferguson are automatically destined to occupy opposing technical areas in the Romanian capital's National Stadium on 9 May appear premature.
England's Champions League rejects take their first steps towards the final of Europe's second competition in the new year but, on Friday, they will learn the identity of their first "round of 32" opponents when the draw takes place in Nyon, Switzerland.
United and City have both been seeded and will be paired with one of the 12 Europa League group stage runners-up or one of the four worst-positioned dropouts from the continent's elite contest. This dictates that Ferguson and Mancini will surely be taking an unusually close interest in the results of the final round of group games on Wednesday and Thursday night.
They will see whether the Romanian minnows FC Vaslui have pipped Lazio to second place in Group D. If Vaslui's 11,220-capacity Municipal Stadium represents one potential destination for the Manchester clubs, other medium-haul possibilities include Russia's Lokomotiv Moscow or Rubin Kazan, Turkey's Besiktas or Trabzonspor and Israel's Maccabi Haifa.
Metalist Kharkiv are notoriously tough opponents at this level but City and United will at least be spared a prospective meeting with the group-winning Ukrainian heavyweights from a remote city studded with statues of Lenin until a later round. Alternatively, they could find themselves facing Stoke City.
Pat Nevin cannot wait to see how the Manchester pair fare. "The Europa League is such a refreshing, interesting competition because, unlike the Champions League, no one has a clue who will win it," said the former Chelsea and Everton winger who provides Europa League analysis for Channel 5.
With Porto, Ajax, Udinese, Paris St Germain, Schalke, Atlético Madrid, Valencia and PSV Eindhoven among the better-known names likely to feature in the knockout phase, Nevin feels it would be a mistake for Mancini or Ferguson to adopt a patronising approach.
"The English have an unbelievably arrogant attitude towards the Europa League," Nevin said. "Spain, France, Scotland and the rest of Europe have very different views towards it. Because of that unbelievable arrogance, those sneeringly dismissive attitudes, everybody will be out to do everything they can to beat the English teams."
He believes resisting such pressures could prove character-forming. "At the moment Manchester United have quite a few young lads in their team with not a lot of European experience but the need to perhaps get a draw at Kharkiv on a freezing Thursday night could really bring them together as a group and teach them how to get results in difficult places."
While Ferguson and Mancini must grapple with the unknown – "everybody knows everything about Champions League teams but there are a lot of great technical players no one has heard of in the Europa League," said Nevin – City's squad may yet find a successful formula for continental combat. "Manchester City have some brilliant players with plenty of individual Champions League experience but, as a group, they still need to learn how to win in Europe," added Nevin. "Another spell in the Europa League could teach them a lot."
Last March City reached the last 16 before bowing out to Dynamo Kyiv 2-1. Eschewing the Uefa tradition of training on your opponent's pitch the night before a game, City flew into Ukraine late after holding a final practice session in Manchester. With most players dispatched directly to their hotel, only Mancini and Edin Dzeko attended the official media conference at the Valeriy Lobanovskiy Stadium. It swiftly became clear that Kyiv's management were affronted by this perceived slight. With Ukrainian journalists deriding "English arrogance", Mancini's team kicked off at a decided disadvantage. Quite apart from struggling to get to grips with an awkward, totally unfamiliar, playing surface – let alone evening temperatures of -6C – City were confronted, and deservedly beaten, by highly motivated, fully psyched-up rivals.
Nevin struggles to comprehend such disdain. "The Europa League doesn't offer anything like the sort of money clubs can make from the Champions League," he said. The Europa League may not offer big money, he said, "But don't most United and City fans want their teams to try and win a respected European trophy? Isn't football supposed to be about glory?"
For travelling fans the Europa League is often about broadening horizons. At a time when much of Europe is becoming homogenised and even the more glamorous Champions League destinations can feel heavily corporatised, it boasts a quirky charm. Not to mention a ticket to rewardingly different, off the beaten track, destinations yet to figure on the mainstream European citybreak map.

We are all talking about big name signings like De Rossi but the biggest signings we can make are the 16 and 17year olds that turn out to be the next Messi or Iniesta.

If we are to sement a top spot in europe we need to breed these superstars and not just buy them, so hope we get this Croatian wonderkid (they are usually top players over there) and he turns out to be all they say he will be even though I am vary of "best prospect in europe" comments as they are touted about more often than "unplayable" these days.

Fesan wrote:We are all talking about big name signings like De Rossi but the biggest signings we can make are the 16 and 17year olds that turn out to be the next Messi or Iniesta.

If we are to sement a top spot in europe we need to breed these superstars and not just buy them, so hope we get this Croatian wonderkid (they are usually top players over there) and he turns out to be all they say he will be even though I am vary of "best prospect in europe" comments as they are touted about more often than "unplayable" these days.

That has always been the plan. It wasclearlystated quite early onin the Sheik's reign as City owner. We spend big to get us into the elite and then the youth policy comes into play. We have been quite heavily involved in recruiting the next generation.

Ha ha, he is thought to prefer utd because he is not ready for city. Pmfsl. I bet the rags love the thought of being our feeder club.

'A source' told Goal.com

Isn't it about time he got one right ? Also; as if some random 17 year old is going to play regularly for Utd when they're trying to win a title. This is Ferguson/rags' latest trick when talking to players I recon; try to scare them from signing for City as they won't get a game. I recon the quotes we heard from Christian Erikssen are ideas put there by the rags' negotiators. They are up to no good all the time on the quiet those bastards.