Chelsea V Manchester City: 5 Things We Learned

The English Premier League just a lot more interesting.

Manchester City: No longer untouchable.

Chelsea: In disarray no more.

Frank Lampard: Back from zombieland.

Top of the table: Five teams separated by nine points.

Yeah, this is gonna be good.

And, incredibly, we can all thank Lampard, the scorer of the match-winning goal in Chelsea's come-from-behind, 2-1, victory over league-leading Manchester City on Monday at Stamford Bridge.

Yeah, seriously. The same Frank Lampard that missed his last penalty. This time, he drilled a cheeky rocket down the middle of the goalmouth, confidently, to put Chelsea ahead with less than 10 minutes left.

The same 33-year-old Frank Lampard that has spent more of this season sulking and rotting on the bench than playing good football. This time, though, he came on as a second-half substitute and inspired his long-time club to victory.

It might all be a little hard to believe, but believe it. The title race is back on. Chelsea are—somehow—still in it. And we can all thank—or blame—Frank Lampard.

Funny how football works sometimes, eh?

Frank Lampard Isn't Done After All

Maybe we should have seen this coming, though.

It wasn't too long ago that Frank Lampard was starring in, scoring in and captaining the home side in England's 1-0 win over Spain.

But this season with Chelsea, it's been a different story.

Without the prestige of an automatic selection in Chelsea's midfield, Lampard seemed more likely to head for the Stamford Bridge exit than a match-winning performance. And, honestly, his career seemed close to over.

It's not.

Yeah, he's 33. No, he's not as good as he used to be. Yeah, his compression shorts make him look really frumpy. But Lampard isn't done.

And if Chelsea do manage to somehow get well and truly back into the title race, there's a good chance Lampard will play a starring role.

Who else is it gonna be? Oriol Romeu?

The Title Race Isn't Done After All

How is this even possible?

Manchester City dominated England for nearly four months. They beat Manchester United 6-1. They beat Tottenham Hotspur 5-1. Both on the road.

They scored 48 goals, conceded 13 and won 14 of their first 16 matches.

And yet, after Monday's loss to Chelsea, their lead atop the table rests at a precarious two points.

Manchester United are nearest, nipping at City's heels with 36 points. But Chelsea and Spurs, the latter with a game in hand, are seven back. Arsenal are nine behind.

City still have a goal differential of plus-34 and own a 100 percent home record, but none of those deficits are insurmountable.

That's hard to believe considering the degree of City's dominance over the first four months of the season.

And Suddenly City Look Vulnerable

Perhaps most shocking of all, Manchester City showed themselves vulnerable to the same stupid mistakes that plague teams at the other end of the table.

The worst mistake of a mistake-prone Monday: Gael Clichy's pair of rapid-fire yellow cards early in the second half. Both were as deserved as they were silly and as merited as they were unnecessary.

That's the kind of thing you'd expect from, say, Blackburn or Bolton, but not from the team leading the Premier League.

But Clichy did it. City paid with their unbeaten record, and now they look suddenly mortal.

Granted, they performed admirably while down to 10 men on the road against a tough opponent. But that's the kind of test champions seem to pass more often than fail. And City failed.

With a home game to Arsenal next, we might find out in a hurry just how vulnerable City are.

Andre Villas-Boas Might Actually Know What He's Doing

Maybe, just maybe, Andre Villas-Boas knows what the heck he's doing.

That's not a sure thing, mind you.

Chelsea's defense still played pitifully in the opening minutes—and Mario Balotelli made them pay for it—and for long periods of the first half, Manchester City bossed possession.

Furthermore, for the first 20 minutes after the sending-off, Chelsea took their one-man advantage and sat on their thumbs with it.

But they managed to succeed where Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur both failed, by beating Manchester City at home. And they did it after going behind to an early goal.

So is it time to declare AVB a genius? Probably not.

But it might be time to get off his back.

Clattenburg Gave out Too Many Cards

The sending-off was correct, but referee Mark Clattenburg got a couple things wrong

Raul Meireles really should have gone for a dangerous, studs-up challenge that connected with the planted leg of a Manchester City player. And for a while, it looked like he was giving out yellow cards for every foul.

The game featured seven yellow cards, if you include both of Gael Clichy's. But this wasn't a particularly dirty match.

Clattenburg and his card-happy approach didn't ruin the game. But had the match gone any longer, he might have.