After an excellent 2-0 win on Wednesday night and an Arsenal draw yesterday, we went into the match with Man City with the luxury of knowing that 4^th spot was entirely in our own hands.

We frustrated City for large periods of the game and had chances to go ahead however, ultimately they proved to be a little too strong for us and despite a good performance from the home side, two second half goals from Yaya Toure ensured that the blue half of Manchester are just one win away from the Premier League title.

Two teams at the top of the form table

Before the game kicked off yesterday Newcastle and Manchester City were sitting 1^st and 2^nd in the form table over the last 6 games. City were 2^nd with 13 points (P6 W4 D1 L1) and Newcastle were top with 15 points out of a possible 18 (P6 W5 L1). This record tarnished only by a terrible performance away at Wigan.

Overall a decent performance from the lads today but the class of City showed through in the end. Arguably two sloppy goals to concede but still quality finishes. We’re still in with a shout of a top 4 finish going into our last match and shouldn’t focus on this result past today. There were some decent performances from Newcastle, with the first City goal putting them in the driving seat. Must be said, no one was fantastic and we have to be realistic on a few who I certainly think could have done a bit more.

Krul – 6 – The Dutchman made some good saves but there were a few dodgy moments early on particularly when he ran very far wide out of box to meet a through pass and nearly got caught out. Was out of character from him but still did enough to get an average rating of 6.

Perch – 5 – City got in behind Perchinio a couple of times today and it probably did not help that Ben Arfa was lazy with his tracking back on occasions. Overall Perch did little; no completed tackles or interceptions. 5 might be harsh, but he was certainly the least effective defender in the back line.

Newcastle kept themselves in the hunt for Champions League football, with a very impressive victory at a damp Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night. The away side were seeking revenge for a 3-0 defeat earlier in the year, when it would be fair to say a baffling decision from Mike Dean, cost Newcastle dear.

A performance of courage and determination, combined with 2 moments of genius from the current wearer of the number nine shirt, was enough for the visitors to take all 3 points.

A resurgent Chelsea

Prior to this, Chelsea had only suffered the 1 league defeat, away at Manchester City, since Roberto Di Matteo replaced Andre Villas-Boas, with the former midfielder put in temporary charge until the end of the season. They had become solid at the back once again, with key players returning to form in all areas of the pitch.

After the disappointing defeat on the weekend we bounced back with our best away performance of the season. We scored twice and kept our 15^th clean sheet of the season in the process and recorded our first ever win at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League.  Thanks to Papiss Cissé it was a night that will live long in the memory of all who made the trip to London.

We started the game brightly and were rewarded by a fine finish from Cisse reminiscent of his first in a black and white shirt after 19 minutes. We were the better team in the first half and we nearly doubled our lead just before half time thanks to two Demba Ba efforts who was denied by first Cech then the woodwork.

Tiote was injured midway through the second half before Cisse scored what could be the goal of the season 4 minutes into injury time. That capped off a brilliant night in the capital; bring on Man City!