Peep! Peep! Peep! Stamford Bridge explodes – sadly not literally – as the final whistle blows. City have lost for the first time this season and their lead over Manchester United has been cut to just two points. Chelsea, in third, are seven points behind. You could say City have bottled this tonight, because they had Chelsea on the ropes for 25 minutes and then just stopped playing. They’ll gripe about the penalty David Silva should have had at 1-0, but ultimately they threw it away. Chelsea were strong and powerful; this was largely a victory built on Mourinho values, but don’t tell Andre Villas-Boas that. Thanks for reading. Bye.

90 min+3: Wow. Drogba turns away from both Barry and Zabaleta on the right, tossing both aside, and then thumps a shot not too far over the bar from 45 yards out on the right touchline. He’s been great.

90 min+3: Wow. Drogba turns away from both Barry and Zabaleta on the right, tossing both aside, and then thumps a shot not too far over the bar from 45 yards out on the right touchline. He’s been great.

90 min: There will be four minutes of stoppage time. Yaya Toure commits his 93rd foul of the match but still stays on the pitch.

88 min: Chelsea are looking to shut up shop now, and Mikel replaces Sturridge, who has been instrumental in both goals.

86 min: Milner overhits the free-kick and then Balotelli and Terry nearly kick off over an apparent elbow from the England captain. No.

86 min: Edin Dzeko comes on for Joleon Lescott. He’ll have a chance to score immediately as City have a free-kick on the left after some outrageous juggling skills from Balotelli, who caught it on his chest, flicked it over Bosingwa and was then brought down.

85 min: Somewhere in Manchester, Sir Alex Ferguson lets out a satisfied sigh and puts his feet up.

84 min: Florent Malouda replaces Juan Mata, who’s had a quiet game by his standards.

GOAL! Chelsea 2-1 Manchester City (Lampard pen, 82 min): Ray Wilkins was right! Lampard spanks the ball high down the middle, giving Hart no chance, and City are heading for their first league defeat of the season.

82 min: PENALTY TO CHELSEA! Sturridge cuts in frm the right, curls it with his left and Lescott blocks his goalbound shot with his arms! A clear penalty, though City will be aggrieved having been denied one of their own in the first half.

82 min: PENALTY TO CHELSEA! Sturridge cuts in frm the right, curls it with his left and Lescott blocks his goalbound shot with his arms! A clear penalty, though City will be aggrieved having been denied one of their own in the first half.

80 min: Ramires feeds a pass through to Drogba, who backheels it to him in return, but the Brazilian can only toepoke straight at Hart on the stretch.

79 min: Foul. Whistle. Foul. Whistle. Foul. Whistle. Foul. Whistle. Foul. Whistle. Foul. Whistle. Foul. Whistle. Foul. Foul. Foul. FOUL. FOULFOULFOULFOUL.

78 min: This second half has been appalling stuff, full of fouls, mispaced passes and bluster. Drogba steams into Zabaleta and is booked. How many’s that now? It’s not even been a particularly dirty game, but the conditions have played their part.

76 min: The system has been playing up, so you’ve missed  Ramires booking for an untidy foul on Balotelli and De Jong coming in for Silva, City more or less settling for the point which is going to be theirs, because Chelsea are doing bugger all.

73 min: Now Lampard does come on for Meireles.

73 min: Now Lampard does come on for Meireles.

72 min: Andre Villas-Boas is giving Lampard instructions now, presumably telling him how he should celebrate with him when he scores the winning goal.

72 min: Andre Villas-Boas is giving Lampard instructions now, presumably telling him how he should celebrate with him when he scores the winning goal.

71 min: It’s got a Frank Lampard winner written all over it, according to Raymondo. He’s not even on the pitch.

68 min: City finally manage a counterattack, but Balotelli shoots straight at Cech from 25 yards out.

66 min: Ray Wilkins has just described a foul by Silva on Mata as a “nice little bodycheck”. Chelsea haven’t really done much against then 10 men of City yet. In fact, apart from the goal, they haven’t really done much throughout the game, but you’d fancy them to win this now.

64 min: Balotelli gets Romeu booked, making the most of absolutely nothing. And finally Kolo Toure is on, replacing Aguero, who wasn’t too happy about being taken off at all.

63 min: A loose ball comes to Ramires on the edge of the area, but Kompany blocks his drive. Kolo Toure has been preparing to come on for about five minutes now. How long does it take?

61 min: “What price this game ends up 10 v 9 in Chelsea’s favour?” says George Templeton.

59 min: Drogba curls the free-kick over the top. City, of course, had a man sent off against Liverpool, but not this early.

58 min: Gael Clichy is sent off! He gets a second yellow card after getting there a nano-second too late as Ramires burst on to a Drogba lay-off. It was an awful challenge, as he went for it with his wrong foot, tackling with his left when it should have been his right. Now City are in trouble.

53 min: Kompany might have been sent off here. He was flummozed by a superb nutmeg from Mata on the left and then got back and brought  him down from behind. City need to be careful because they increasingly look like losing the run of themselves.

52 min: Balotelli is going to get sent off. It’s obvious. The Chelsea fans are giving him pelters and he keeps on losing the ball.

50 min: Chelsea have started the second half on top. All of a sudden, City look beatable, which certainly wasn’t the case in the opening 25 minutes.

47 min: If Chelsea can get Sturridge into the game, City could be in trouble. On the right flank, he turns past Clichy and skins him, so the left-back hauls him down and gets a booking. From the free-kick, Mata pings it all the way to the far side of the area to Sturridge, who’s left totally unmarked. He chests it down and then hammers a rising, swerving volley over the bar.

46 min: Off we go again. City are actually quite lucky to have 11 men on the pitch, because Sky have just shown that Yaya Toure could have been sent off twice, once for kicking Juan Mata and then for slapping the same player. Anyway. It’s Mark Clattenburg, so I’m not expecting anything competent.

Half time: Chelsea 1-1 Manchester City. Watch the goals here.

Peep! Peep! Mark Clattenburg brings an end to an intriguing first half. City should have been out of sight after a breathtaking first 20 minutes, but Chelsea have gradually come into it and are just about hanging in there now.

Peep! Peep! Mark Clattenburg brings an end to an intriguing first half. City should have been out of sight after a breathtaking first 20 minutes, but Chelsea have gradually come into it and are just about hanging in there now.

45 min+2: Balotelli curls a carefully judged cross into the area from the left. Aguero tries to flick it goalwards on the volley, but he was beat out by a flying Terry and can’t beat Cech. Wilkins then starts talking about how brave Terry was there, even though the striker beat him to the ball. Such a warrior.

45 min: Mata hasn’t got into the game at all. There will be two minutes of stoppage time.

44 min: Every time I try to like James Milner, he does things like cross the ball aimlessly out for a throw-in.

41 min: Kompany clatters into Drogba 30 yards from goal and gets a booking. That was a dire challenge. “City’s defence wasn’t all that last season – only Kompany and Hart are really any use – it just had De Jong, Barry and Toure standing in front of it most of the time,” says Daniel Harris. It’s a fair point; there are still some average players in this side, and they wouldn’t finish above any of the great title-winning sides of recent years.

41 min: Kompany clatters into Drogba 30 yards from goal and gets a booking. That was a dire challenge. “City’s defence wasn’t all that last season – only Kompany and Hart are really any use – it just had De Jong, Barry and Toure standing in front of it most of the time,” says Daniel Harris. It’s a fair point; there are still some average players in this side, and they wouldn’t finish above any of the great title-winning sides of recent years.

38 min: City’s first corner, taken by Milner, is headed away. It’s a strange quirk, but their defence, so impressive last season, has been poor this year. When did they last keep a clean sheet in the league?

38 min: City’s first corner, taken by Milner, is headed away. It’s a strange quirk, but their defence, so impressive last season, has been poor this year. When did they last keep a clean sheet in the league?

36 min: I didn’t notice them go and celebrate with Villas-Boas, so that will be extra training tomorrow. Meireles gets too excited after his goal and scythes into Zabaleta, earning himself a booking.

GOAL! Chelsea 1-1 Manchester City (Meireles, 34 min): Roberto Mancini was right, City should never have sold Daniel Sturridge. He isolates Clichy on the right, skitters past the City left-back far too easily on the outside and then produces a final ball, cutting the ball back into the six-yard box where Meireles arrives unnoticed and sidefoots past Hart on the volley. That’s Chelsea’s first shot on target and they should be 3-0 down by now, but they won’t care. We’ve got a game now.

33 min: Chelsea’s ball retention has been appalling. Meireles swings a pass out to Bosingwa, it goes out for a throw-in. Remember when Frank Lampard said they were playing like Barcelona? By the by, I’ve just realised Ramires is playing, though only because the camera has focused on him holding his ankle.

32 min: It’s got a little bit scrappy now. City are not exactly sitting on their lead given how little Chelsea are offering going forward, but they’ve slightly lost their fluency.

29 min: Well, we’ve seen this before. Drogba has made a miraculous recovery. Relief for Chelsea, because no one else looks like doing anything for them.

28 min: It gets worse for Chelsea: Drogba has injured his knee after shooting wide from long range. His evening may be over. Luckily Chelsea have a £50m striker on the bench.

25 min: At last, Chelsea threaten. Drogba, who was offside, picks up possession on the left and shoots towards the near post. It takes a deflection off Kompany and slithes into the side-netting. The corner is a waste of time. “On current form, is Terry really going to be in the England squad for Poland?” asks Kalle. “Surely there are 6 better centrebacks in Eng-er-land?” Nope. What a sorry state of affairs.

24 min: Silva dances impudently past Romeu and then slips Milner in, Chelsea’s offside trap about as effective as one set by Dick Dastardly. Unfortunately for City, Milner’s touch takes him wide, although Ivanovic very nearly does them a solid by bringing him down. Instead Milner stays on his feet, earning the approval of Raymondo in the commentary box, and he crosses to the far post, where Aguero can’t keep it in.

23 min: Joe Hart has touched the ball around three times. It should be 3-0 to City. If they don’t win the league this season, I will assume the world will have ended or something.

20 min: A cross from the left very nearly finds the onrushing Balotelli, but Cole does well to ease him out of it. Then for whatever reason, Ivanovic decides to leave it to Aguero, forgetting they’re not on the same side, but he’s forced wide and eventually hustled out of it by Terry.

19 min: God, this system is about as good as the Chelsea defence. Chelsea have had 62% of the possession. Much good it’s done them.  “I was thinking Andre Villas-Boas would try to use the classic Jose Mourinho score a goal and then set up with two banks of four and hit Manchester City on the break,” says George Templeton. “Pity his defense couldn’t even standup to Manchester City for more than two minutes!”

16 min: Balotelli wallops a free-kick into the upper tier from 40 yards out. Oh Mario. “What about that celebration, eh?” says Michael Rogers. “The older generation talk about his “attitude” and “impetulence”, I talk about f**king hilarity.” It’s on!

14 min: This could be anything. Balotelli coaxes a lovely pass into Silva’s path on the edge of the area. With a clear sight of goal, he decides, as ever, to take one more touch, trying to trick his way past Bosingwa, who hangs out a leg and appears to rap the Spaniard on the shins. Mark Clattenburg tells him to get up, but that looked a clear penalty. City are playing some brilliant stuff. It’s barely a contest. “Magnificent fashion? In Cantona-wannabe, contrived, try-hard fashion in my not very humblest,” says Daniel Harris, who may or may not support Manchester United. “Good player, and a more interesting bell than some, but still a bell.”

11 min: Che;sea’s defence is best watched while listening to circus music at the moment. They are utterly wretched and it should be 2-0 to City, but for a poor miss from Aguero. The chance came from Ashley Cole playing silly buggers in his own half, dismally giving the ball away. Romeu was unable to cut out the pass through to Aguero, who burst into the area, shrugged off a hilarious non-challenge from the bumbling Bosingwa, rolled inside and then snatched at his shot from 12 yards out, dragging it wide of the right post with only Cech to beat.

9 min: Aguero screws one wide of the near post from the left side of the area. City are finding so much space.

8 min: It’s all City, with Chelsea rocked by that early goal. Romeu’s loose pass in his own half allows Barry to find Aguero on the edge of the area, but he’s blocked off; then Balotelli has a go from 20 yards but Terry gets in the way. Chelsea have a job on here, they’ve barely got out of their own half so far.

7 min: Chelsea are here for the taking. Their defence looks like it can be breached at any moment; Balotelli curves a pass around the back of Ivanovic, but Bosingwa comes across to cut out the danger with Aguero lurking.

4 min: So, that high line, eh? Chelsea look for an instant response, but Meireles slashes wide from distance. Disappointingly Balotelli’s celebration was rather muted by his standards, though he did goad the Chelsea fans behind the goal a little, standing with his arms outstretched in magnificent fashion.

GOAL! Chelsea 0-1 Manchester City (Balotelli, 2 min): What a start from the league leaders, and that Chelsea defence has been cut to ribbons at will. On the right flank, Aguero receives the ball with his back to goal. Seemingly with nowhere to go, he brilliantly spun away from Terry and with the Chelsea captain caught out of position, Aguero poked a cracking ball through the middle past Ivanovic with his right foot. Balotelli scooted on to it, drew Cech, rounded him and then just nonchalantly rolled the ball into the empty net. Slap!

Peep! We’re off. City, in their Milan kit, get us going, attacking from right to left in the first half. Chelsea, you don’t need me to tell you, are in blue. City keep it tight for the first 23 seconds, which makes them better than Barcelona. By the way, it is absolutely lashing it down at Stamford Bridge. Where are Stoke when you need them?

The teams are in the tunnel. But not for long. They stride out on to the pitch, where they are met by filthy conditios at Stamford Bridge. Typing this from west London, your intrepid reporter can confirm it’s not very nice here. Anyway, pretty soon they’ll be playing football. Of that there can be no doubt.

Imagine if Balotelli scores and puts on a Wayne Bridge mask. I’d die on the spot, but I’d die happy.

Here’s my steak buddy Alex Netherton. “Don’t you dare compare that man to Phil Brown,” he blasts.

The bad news for Manchester City is that David Luiz is suspended. The good news is that Jose Bosingwa plays instead. Frank Lampard gets to stew on the bench again. Balotelli has had his pre-match curry and starts. This, apart from the injured Micah Richards, is the City team that beat United 6-1.

Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole; Romeu, Meireles, Ramires; Sturridge, Drogba, Mata. Subs: Turnbull, Ferreira, Mikel, Lampard, Malouda, Kalou, Torres.

Manchester City (4-2-3-1): Hart; Zabaleta, Kompany, Lescott, Clichy; Yaya Toure, Barry; Milner, Silva, Aguero; Balotelli. Subs: Pantilimon, Savic, K. Toure, De Jong, A. Johnson, Nasri, Dzeko.

So, Mario Balotelli. What to say? Well, for starters, let’s look forward to what t-shirt he’ll unveil when he inevitably scores tonight.

Evening. Gary Neville is as rabid a Manchester United fan as they come, but there might be a part of him that wants Manchester City to win tonight, just because it will wind up his new BFF, the amusingly prickly Andre Villas-Boas, who’s been swanning about the place these last few days doing his very best Phil Brown impression. We still wait for the half-time team talk on the pitch – which, given the way Chelsea have been defending and City have been attacking at times this season, could be seen tonight – and we must also watch out for whether Chelsea’s players do go and celebrate with the Mourinho wannabe if they do a goal. Of course, there is always a chance that Villas-Boas is carrying on in this fashion simply to take the pressure off his players, though in these parts we prefer to just assume he’s sparring for a fight, and one wrong question from an impertinent reporter could lead to a full-on brawl after the game, hopefully one captured live. After all, he’s already talking about critics being slapped in the face.

But – Pulitzer please – Valencia are not Manchester City. As impressive as Chelsea were last Tuesday, this is an entirely different proposition. It’s not often Chelsea are the underdogs at Stamford Bridge, but surely they must be placed in that category this evening, given that City are the league leaders, have scored around 423 goals in their last two matches and pulled Manchester United’s trousers down and pointed and laughed at Old Trafford. Chelsea will crow about City going out of the Champions League, but Roberto Mancini may secretly be content with that, as it allow them to focus on winning their first title since I’m too young to know when it was. As it goes, the Italian has been in Villas-Boas’s position before: the foreign manager yet to win over a sceptical media. Looking at what Mancini’s done this season, journalists should be careful about giving Villas-Boas too much of a kicking.

Especially as he is still trying to revamp the footballing culture at Chelsea. Here and there, the signs have been encouraging, and Villas-Boas appears to appreciate that this is a squad that needs an overhaul. While Didier Drogba is still capable of giving any side a battering, Nicolas Anelka and Alex have been ruthlessly cast aside, Florent Malouda is out of favour and then there’s Frank Lampard, left to mull things over on the bench. This increasingly youthful Chelsea have it within themselves to beat this City side, though if they defend like they did against Arsenal, Liverpool and United, Sergio Aguero, Mario Balotelli and David Silva could fill their boots. Then we’ll see who gets to do the slapping.