English Premier League Shock as Man City beat Chelsea - 12-08-09

December 8 - Football is like a microcosm of life where despite the best-laid plans anything can and often does go wrong. Just ask English Premier League leaders Chelsea, who still on a high after dispatching Arsenal 3-0 last week, were expected to do the same to Man City on Saturday, but lost 2-1.

After thrashing Arsenal last week and increasing their EPL lead to 36 points, Chelsea - under the superb leadership of manager Carlo Ancelotti - looked as though they could do no wrong. But then they traveled north to play Manchester City, who are currently lying sixth in this season's English Premier League.

Perhaps it was the fact that Manchester City was playing in front of its home crowd, or perhaps that a few of Chelsea's key players seemed a little 'tired' or the fact that Mercury is in retrograde. But whatever it was, Man City dazzled when they came from behind to snatch a well-earned victory from the Londoners.

Much of the credit for Manchester City's triumph went to goalkeeper Shay Given, who was in top form and managed to save a penalty from Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard, to the delight of Man City fans. Earlier in the game Man City managed to overcome an Emmanuel Adebayor own goal and 0-1 deficit.

Ironically it was striker Adebayor who tied the scores just before half-time when he took advantage of a missed opportunity of teammate Shaun Wright-Phillips to send one flying into the back of the Chelsea net. In the second half, Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez made it 2-1 with a magnificent 20-yard free kick.

And after Lampard's attempt at goal was saved by Given, the score remained in Man City's favor until the final whistle. Fans of the Manchester team were not only thrilled that their team dispatched the English Premier League leaders, but also with the fact that the victory ended an odd seven-draw streak for the team.

Surprisingly perhaps, even Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti was full of praise for Manchester City following the exhilarating match. 'They will do better in the future as they have a very good squad and some very good players. They are going to do well, although I don't know whether it will be this season.'

Here are the full English Premier League Football results from the weekend of Saturday, December 5 and Sunday, December 6:

Fulham 1-0 Sunderland
Everton 2-2 Tottenham
Portsmouth 2-0 Burnley
Arsenal 2-0 Stoke City
Aston Villa 3-0 Hull City
Blackburn 0-0 Liverpool
West Ham Utd 0-4 Man Utd
Wigan Athletic 2-3 Birmingham
Wolves 2-1 Bolton
Manchester City 2-1 Chelsea