Self-christened as the “clash of the cash” and “the Abu Dhabu Derby”, Manchester City’s first match since the euphoric takeover by the Abu Dhabi royal family was ironically against the Russian financial powerhouse in Chelsea. Could Abu Dhabi’s outfit exceed Abramovich’s club on the pitch as well as financially?
Eyes scoured towards the red segment of Manchester on September 1st as the only expected business in the city was that surrounding Dimitar Berbatov’s tedious transfer from Tottenham. Few would have expected the attention to be stolen by their neighbours in the east. On transfer deadline day, Manchester’s forgotten club rocked the world as news agencies broke the unforeseen story that they had in fact just become the world’s richest club. It’s safe to say that it raised more eyebrows than two years ago when City’s only noticeable business on the final day was the rather low-key signing of DaMarcus Beasley. Sensationally, Europe’s biggest clubs soon found themselves receiving colossal bids for their best and most recognised stars – the City Takeover effect literally samba’d across Europe. Whether these bids were serious or simply for signals of intent, bidding for Liverpool’s Torres, Valencia’s David Villa and Dimitar Berbatov to name just a few made the spectacular point that Manchester City were aiming high. Talk of bankruptcy, administration and a drastic sell-out of players were quickly replaced with lofty ambitions and the ‘problem’ of where one Robson de Souza, aka Robinho, was to play in the starting eleven.
City’s immense fortune and pursuit of breaking apart the top four has led to some quarters claiming that it is bad for the game and it will kill off their productive academy. Surely the media should accept that a new challenger for the top four and beyond will be good for competition and reduce the predictability. As for the academy, Mark Hughes has stated that it will continue to be used and more money will be invested so that it will continue to progress on another level. More importantly, this has been recognised by the new ownership. “The importance of building further on the success of this part of the club simply cannot be overstated. Do not forget that the most successful period of Manchester United’s recent history was based to a large extent on graduates of their academy.” Plans have been unveiled that will see Manchester City’s youth academy play in the annual Abu Dhabi youth tournament. This signifies that the academy could even be more productive than before – a step-up in class means naturally the youth players will need to improve but being around world-class footballers means they are in the perfect place to develop.
The international break gave City fans the chance to observe the flare on display from their ‘adopted country’ as Robinho joined Elano and Jo in the Brazilian national team. Robinho started in what was his first match since the astounding transfer and he did not fail to impress. A private jet funded by City flew to South America to pickup the Brazilian trio and fellow signing Pablo Zabaleta so they would all make Saturday’s late kick-off against Chelsea.
The match was already widely anticipated, but even more so that the opposition was Chelsea. The most noteworthy reason being that Abramovich had been dwarfed by City’s £32.5m bid for Robinho - in an era where Chelsea had dominated the transfer window. Additionally it was the clash of the league’s richest teams. Shaun Wright-Phillips was too making his (second) home debut in a sky blue shirt against the club he failed to make an impact at – Chelsea had paid £21m for the right-winger and we were only too happy to take him back three years later for a fraction of that.
It would be deluded to consider the match as a ‘Battle of the Titans’ because Chelsea have had years perfecting there team and had the benefit of a billionaire owner for countless of transfer windows – whereas City’s own spending has just begun. One emphasis of the match was pin-pointed on City’s new-found status as the team that would break into the top four, with some saying that it would prove whether or not they could make a credible challenge. Patience is the key and regardless of the outcome this had to be remembered. Essentially there was only one day to make any signings under the new ownership and we were lucky that the circumstances were right to make the Robinho signing happen. Nevertheless, the chance to see City compete against Chelsea was mouth-watering prospect and optimism certainly was not lacking.
Manchester City started in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Jo as the lone striker, closely supported by Robinho in the centre, Wright-Phillips on the right and Stephen Ireland on the left. With those names in the attacking line-up one concern may lie in the protection of the defence, but Hamann and Kompany were given the roles of defensive midfielders. Zabaleta made his debut at right-back, replacing the Tottenham-bound Corluka, alongside captain Richard Dunne, Micah Richards and Michael Ball. Chelsea’s lavish financial state was evident in their starting lineup which showcased Lampard, Deco, Joe Cole and Malouda together in the same team as Anelka, Carvalho, Terry, Ashley Cole, Bosingwa, Mikel and Cech.
Played in front of a club record crowd, the first 13 minutes resembled that of a fairytale as Robinho sent the fans into raptures by converting a twenty-yard freekick. The ball rose above the ineffective Chelsea wall past Cech, resulting in a quarrel between the keeper and Terry as who was to blame. Celebrations were, however, short-lived when a corner taken by Lampard was eventually powered in by Carvalho.
A dream debut for Robinho and Zabaleta was beyond Manchester City as Chelsea governed the remainder of the match by scoring two more in a 3-1 triumph. Further goals could have been scored by either team as Malouda wasted several headers, the closest rattling the crossbar. Anelka failed to capitalise after a disastrous attempt of a clearance by Zabaleta while the scoreline was level, but Chelsea threw the scoreline in their advantage eight minutes into the second half. Frank Lampard pushed forward and the City defence allowed the prolific midfielder the opportunity to create his own valuable space, resulting in the second goal. Carvalho denied Ireland an equaliser after a last-ditch tackle and on 69 minutes the visitors secured the three points after Anelka netted past his former club. It was not to be the last incident of the match, as John Terry hauled the advancing Jo to the ground and subsequently saw red. The sending off proved to be controversial as Carvalho was the last defender, but to consider it as a professional foul would be ludicrous as no attempt was made to get the ball.
The result was ultimately predictable and as expected because Chelsea still have the superior team. Manchester City, despite new ownership that has transformed them into potential future title challengers, will no doubt strengthen in future windows but for now they need time to gel and improve step-by-step. Future contests will be a real test of how close they are to breaking apart the top four stronghold. Robinho threw in a fine debut performance but he alone was not able to win the game for them, and neither will he alone turn City into a top four team. With Liverpool beating the reigning champions Manchester United, it shows that realistically a top four finish may be out of the equation this season but this should not discourage Mark Hughes and the fans. Only one day was available to make signings in the new prosperous era, come January there will be another 31 days to make another impact in the market.
So was Chelsea a class apart? For the meantime that has to be said as they outplayed the home side, but give it time and in future years there will be a much closer scoreline - City were playing a team that they will most likely aspire to be in a couple of years time, at least in terms of achievement. Patience is the virtue.
The media will be overjoyed that their top four will at least remain together for now, even the thought of an outsider posing a threat rattles them. Should City, viewed as an unglamorous club, even begin to threaten the top four then no doubt they will show there discontent by continuing to publish defected and false articles.
Stats
Shots on Target: City 3 Chelsea 7
Shots off Target: City 7 Chelsea 11
Fouls: City 16 Chelsea 12
Yellow Cards: City 0 Chelsea 1
Red Cards: City 0 Chelsea 1
Passing Success: City 77.4% Chelsea 83.3%
Tackles: City 29 Chelsea 23
Possession: City 43.6% Chelsea 56.4%
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