Carlo Ancelotti watched his side suffer a second defeat in a row yesterday, something the Italian has not become accustomed to.
Since the beginning of this campaign, Chelsea has looked unstoppable, but yesterday proved we're still susceptible to counter-attack football, with Manchester City completing a 1-0 win.
Following another tense encounter against Newcastle midweek yesterday was no different as end-to-end football took place inside the City of Manchester Stadium.
'We wanted to play better, obviously because we didn't play how we wanted,' admitted Ancelotti after the game.
'We saw the power of Man City in midfield; we lost a lot of possession and were not able to play the football we wanted.
'We gave the ball to them and gave them the opportunity to score on the counter-attack. We maintain the top of the table but we lost this time.'
But rather than blame any individual performance for yesterday's outcome, Ancelotti was certain it was collective errors which ended in defeat.
'That was not a good performance as a team and so for this reason every player did not have a performance which was their best. As a team we didn't play well.
'But it is difficult to judge this team after one defeat. We lost one game but our moment is very good, we are doing very well.
'It was not a good day but this team has a very good mentality.'
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini agreed with his fellow Italian by insisting Chelsea cannot be written off by this one performance alone.
'Chelsea will probably win the title,' said Mancini. 'It is not possible that they can score four, five goals every game. Sometimes they have to play like yesterday.
'Carlo is one of the best managers in the world. I am happy for me, I am sorry for him yesterday but he can't win always.
'If they find space it is easy to score a goal but if they don't have the space to counter-attack it makes it hard. Our players played very well, defended very well, and this helped,' he added.
One change which drew attention in this fixture was the removal of Didier Drogba 20 minutes before the end, when he was replaced by Daniel Sturridge.
It allowed Nicolas Anelka to take up the central striker's position, while fresh-legged Sturridge roamed up and down the right wing.
'I wanted to put more speed in front with Anelka and Sturridge and to use the speed of Sturridge, he was fresh, so I took this decision to change Drogba,' said Ancelotti.
'We have on the bench this opportunity to change the players. We have young players; [Josh] McEachran played 10 minutes and played well. We have to have confidence in the young players.'
But following last year's 2-1 defeat at Eastlands, Ancelotti had one more thing to say: 'This is not a good place for us. Man City is a very good team. They have the possibility to win the title.
'They are growing quickly and will be an opponent for the title.
'They played how we expected because they had a compact shape in their half and they used a lot of power to catch the ball and play counter-attack. We knew this,' added the Chelsea manager.
Since the beginning of this campaign, Chelsea has looked unstoppable, but yesterday proved we're still susceptible to counter-attack football, with Manchester City completing a 1-0 win.
Following another tense encounter against Newcastle midweek yesterday was no different as end-to-end football took place inside the City of Manchester Stadium.
'We wanted to play better, obviously because we didn't play how we wanted,' admitted Ancelotti after the game.
'We saw the power of Man City in midfield; we lost a lot of possession and were not able to play the football we wanted.
'We gave the ball to them and gave them the opportunity to score on the counter-attack. We maintain the top of the table but we lost this time.'
But rather than blame any individual performance for yesterday's outcome, Ancelotti was certain it was collective errors which ended in defeat.
'That was not a good performance as a team and so for this reason every player did not have a performance which was their best. As a team we didn't play well.
'But it is difficult to judge this team after one defeat. We lost one game but our moment is very good, we are doing very well.
'It was not a good day but this team has a very good mentality.'
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini agreed with his fellow Italian by insisting Chelsea cannot be written off by this one performance alone.
'Chelsea will probably win the title,' said Mancini. 'It is not possible that they can score four, five goals every game. Sometimes they have to play like yesterday.
'Carlo is one of the best managers in the world. I am happy for me, I am sorry for him yesterday but he can't win always.
'If they find space it is easy to score a goal but if they don't have the space to counter-attack it makes it hard. Our players played very well, defended very well, and this helped,' he added.
One change which drew attention in this fixture was the removal of Didier Drogba 20 minutes before the end, when he was replaced by Daniel Sturridge.
It allowed Nicolas Anelka to take up the central striker's position, while fresh-legged Sturridge roamed up and down the right wing.
'I wanted to put more speed in front with Anelka and Sturridge and to use the speed of Sturridge, he was fresh, so I took this decision to change Drogba,' said Ancelotti.
'We have on the bench this opportunity to change the players. We have young players; [Josh] McEachran played 10 minutes and played well. We have to have confidence in the young players.'
But following last year's 2-1 defeat at Eastlands, Ancelotti had one more thing to say: 'This is not a good place for us. Man City is a very good team. They have the possibility to win the title.
'They are growing quickly and will be an opponent for the title.
'They played how we expected because they had a compact shape in their half and they used a lot of power to catch the ball and play counter-attack. We knew this,' added the Chelsea manager.
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