Manchester City's Title Ambitions Still Very Much Alive Despite Chelsea Draw

As Manchester City left the field at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, there was a feeling their title chances could be slipping away.

After dominating the game and keeping Chelsea pinned back for much of the second half, it felt like two points dropped rather than a point gained and left them five points adrift of the leaders, with Manchester United, who have rarely hit anything close to top gear, just five points further back in third.

Unusually, City’s home form has been their Achilles' heel, having dropped 10 points already at the Etihad—more than in their two title-winning seasons combined, with too many unexpected slip-ups holding them back. What has in the past been the bedrock of their success has now become something of a problem.

However, the title race is far from over, and City remain well in the hunt to retain their trophy.

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The quality of their performance sent a clear message to Chelsea. City dominated the match, both in terms of possession and chances created, with Chelsea struggling to get any kind of foothold in the game. They couldn’t quite find the goal that would have altered the look of the table dramatically, but it was clear who the better side was.

Chelsea, who have barely rotated this season and have, so far, benefited from their settled side, were without two of their most important players for the first time this season, and it showed.

Bereft of the creativity of Cesc Fabregas, who has a remarkable 15 assists in the league already this season, and their 17-goal striker Diego Costa, Jose Mourinho’s side looked short of quality.

Should they end up suffering further injuries and suspensions, it’ll be a real test of their squad to see if they can maintain the form that has seen them move out in front. So far they have largely avoided any major absences, but a feeling persists that it’s a situation which cannot continue, and on the evidence of the first test of their squad, they may not be well positioned to cope.

City, on the other hand, have suffered a series of injury setbacks but can now look forward to welcoming Yaya Toure, Samir Nasri and new signing Wilfried Bony into the side that was so impressive at Stamford Bridge.

Toure remains hugely influential for City and has been a huge loss since going on international duty with the Ivory Coast at the AFCON tournament in Equatorial Guinea. Add his dynamism, passing ability, strength and running power to the City midfield that impressed against Chelsea, and it would suddenly have an even stronger look.

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Nasri’s guile was also sorely missing, particularly given his form prior to injury. He’s been magnificent this term, displaying technical quality and a wonderful ability to retain possession, a vital facet of City’s game.

And Bony, who looks the ideal partner for Sergio Aguero, will arrive with a point to prove. After a superb spell at Swansea where he proved his Premier League credentials, he could be just what City need to add some spark in attack.

It’ll be a serious injection of quality when they all return.

With City’s tendency to finish the season strongly, shown quite clearly during their two previous title wins, this race isn’t over. Their current position is far from ideal, but they will be quietly confident of chipping away at Chelsea’s lead over the coming weeks and testing the west Londoners' nerve.

Rob Pollard is Bleacher Report's lead Manchester City correspondent and will be following the club from a Manchester base throughout the 2014-15 season. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter: @RobPollard.