Bumper Chelsea reax

Henry Winter, Daily Telegraph

De Jong and co rarely looked like letting Chelsea through on Saturday. One particularly emphatic (but fair) tackle by De Jong on Nicolas Anelka summed up the unquestioning execution of Mancini’s orders. Gareth Barry ably assisted De Jong in the centre while Vincent Kompany and Kolo Touré were imperious at the back, blunting the battering ram that is Didier Drogba.

Steve Tongue, Independent on Sunday

Chelsea weigh in as the biggest and heaviest side in the League but City stood up to them in some shuddering collisions, no one more so than Nigel de Jong, whose challenges this time were generally more legitimate than for Holland against Spain in the World Cup final. Carlos Tevez rivalled his team-mate for individual honours and claimed more headlines with the only goal, scored following an exciting burst from his own half that finally brought the game to life.

Ian Ladyman, Daily Mail

How they achieved it was simple, at least in its design if not its execution. Mancini's three holding midfielders - Nigel de Jong, Gareth Barry and Yaya Toure - denied Chelsea the space they needed. When they did have the ball, City broke with pace and dexterity through Carlos Tevez and David Silva.

Daniel Taylor, The Guardian

Mourinho spoke of a culture whereby Barcelona's opponents "give away the game because they think they cannot win". The same, loosely speaking, has occurred in England. City, however, demonstrated all the attributes that are needed to bring Chelsea to their knees. They were fast to the ball and hard in the tackle. Mancini talked later of not giving Chelsea's attackers space and his players, in particular Gareth Barry and Nigel de Jong, carried out such instructions with an efficiency that suggested they have all grown to understand the Italian's philosophy.

ZonalMarking.net

City played a relatively deep defensive line, but also kept Nigel de Jong and Gareth Barry solidly ahead of the back four. They were ambitiously trying to deny Chelsea space both in behind the defence and between the lines – and it just about worked, thanks to some excellent individual defensive performances. Vincent Kompany was man-of-the-match but Barry and De Jong’s tackling stats (9/10 and 4/4 respectively) were equally important in breaking up the play and Ramires, in particular, struggled to cope with the pressure. Rather than attempting to stop Drogba, they instead stopped the supply to him – he only completed one pass in the second half, and was removed after 75 minutes.

Ian Herbert, The Independent

A defence against which no Premier League side is yet to create a goal this season – the two City have conceded were a penalty and a mix-up – has been subjected to a mantra, rather than a systematic reorganisation, according to Nigel de Jong, who revealed Mancini "preaches" clean sheets.

City 1 - 0 Chelsea

• This feels like a marker. It might not be the biggest achievement of Roberto Mancini's career; that has to be the once in a generation win at Stamford Bridge last year. But it is his most significant. In September we are still in the window of opportunity for season-shaping wins, and this certainly looks like one. Beyond that, it is a empowering personal vindication for Roberto Mancini. If our defeat of Chelsea last December was the idealised Mark Hughes performance, this was an idealised Mancini display: as impenetrable defensive arrangement as I've ever seen from a City side, providing the platform for a piece of Carlos Tévez magic to win it for us.

• Chelsea have started this season unlike any Premier League side I can remember. If you include the final scenes of last season they had scored 38 goals in their last eight league games. But they created nothing from open play. Two close headers from set pieces and that was it. I have never seen a City side defend that well. The back seven (eight if you include Yaya Touré) held their shape perfectly, as well as all putting in a number of exceptional individual performances. Didier Drogba, snuffed out, was eventually replaced. Nicolas Anelka and Florent Malouda - the two musketeers who have blown away so many sides this year - were anonymous. Michael Essien was reduced to shooting from distance. This was the first Premier League game since Boxing Day in which they have failed to score, a run of 26 matches.

• We didn't create much more, either. It was a very cagey game, not unlike the 0-0 draw with Liverpool last season. But unlike Chelsea we capitalised on our one opening. Yaya Touré won the ball in midfield and fed Carlos Tévez, breaking from inside our half. David Silva persuaded John Terry not to commit to Tévez, who found enough space to shoot through Ashley Cole's legs and into the bottom corner. This is becoming a key part of how we win under Mancini: establishing a sound defensive platform and waiting for Tévez to do something special. In an ideal world we'd create more chances playing thrilling football with a fluid movement of all outfield players. But it's not like there's a bad way to beat Chelsea.

• From that point the game opened up a touch. Chelsea committed bodies forward but never looked like breaking through. We threatened more as Yaya Touré started driving forward into space. We might not have created that much, but neither did Chelsea. Danny Sturridge, Yuri Zhirkov and Josh McEachran came on but there was still no breaching the Barry-de Jong-Kompany-Kolo shield. Joe Hart barely had a difficult save to make. If you want an example of what Roberto Mancini has brought to City, what he's all about, then this is it. That's two goals conceded in nine games with this team now, and one of those was a freak. It takes some adjustment - it doesn't feel right - but we have to confront the possibility that we have the best defence in England.

• Now I can cope with the Blackburn draw and the Sunderland defeat. I can even cope with the limited side we put out on Wednesday night. I said I would have put Vincent Kompany and Nigel de Jong out at the Hawthornes, and while I maintain a greivance on this issue, I can certainly see that they looked well rested and fresh today. Had they played in midweek things might well not have turned out this way. In this regard, and in others, today was a striking personal vindication for Mancini.