Twenty minutes into the game, everyone saw that the media's pre-match prediction was correct.

Sneijder, who has just returned from injury, is not in particularly good form, and Chelsea's defense against him is very tight, giving Sneijder almost no space to take the ball.

In those 20 minutes, Sneijder barely played decently, and he spent most of his time fighting against the opponent's body.

Physical confrontation is not Sneijder's strength, so he often falls to the ground.

Although the referee will also blow for fouls on Chelsea players, but Manchester City's attacking rhythm has been disrupted, what is the point of awarding Chelsea fouls and giving Manchester City some free kicks in midfield?

Chelsea pressed fiercely in this game, starting to grab in front, making it difficult for Manchester City's counter-attack to hit. Occasionally, a few kicks go straight to the front of the pitch, but they may not be able to pose a threat.

David Silva, who has been excellent lately, has also been targeted by Chelsea's defense, his physical confrontation ability is weaker, and Chelsea can deal with him more easily than Sneijder - that is, increase the intensity of physical confrontation, David Silva's small body simply cannot withstand the pressure of a group of stupid black roughs in Chelsea's midfield.

In the first half, Chelsea dominated the home side and kept pressing on City's goal to the singing of the home fans.

It seems like a goal can happen at any moment.

But the goal didn't come.

By the end of the 30 minutes, the score was still 0-0.

Chelsea had a few chances but couldn't find the back of the net.

This made Ancelotti in the dugout a little unable to sit still, he got up from the dugout, walked to the sidelines, crossed his hands on his chest, and stared at the pitch with a slight frown.

He is well aware that if he wants to beat Manchester City at home, he must score first.

Scoring goals can change a lot of things, boost your morale, dampen the opponent's morale, and also give you more tactical leeway.

But if we don't find the back of the net, Chelsea's advantage will now drift in our favour towards Manchester City. After all, Chelsea's tactics are very exhausting, and in the second half, there will be a situation where Chelsea players will not be able to run.

At that point, City will regain the initiative in the game.

If, before that, Chelsea don't take the lead, it's bad. Conversely, if they take the lead, Chelsea can recycle their defence and hold on to even a single goal advantage at home.

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'Chelsea were in control of the game and were just one goal away......,' said John Mortensen.

Alan Hansen, who was next to him, shook his head: "Playing Manchester City, if you don't score, you don't have the initiative to control the game." Pay attention to Ancelotti's expression, he is a little anxious. Benitez, on the contrary, appears calm. Maybe a 0:0 in the first half was Benitez's plan! ”

The Chelsea fans in the stands also seemed tired of singing, and their singing voices were a little quieter than before.

At the same time, there was a slowing down in Chelsea's siege – after half an hour of continuous siege, the Chelsea players had their first physical hurdles and they needed to adjust themselves.

The goal still hasn't come.

Some of the Chelsea fans in the stands had their expressions solemn.

Manchester City fans in front of the TV are constantly cheering on their team's defense.

Ten minutes went on, forty minutes into the first half, and five minutes left before the first half was over, with two minutes of stoppage time at most.

Ancelotti didn't continue to look with his arms crossed, but waved his arms and shouted loudly to get the players up to speed again.

It's too early to have a physical problem......

It is necessary to maintain the pressure on Manchester City, otherwise it will be like loosening the chains of the beast, allowing the opponent to escape as soon as they break free, and it will be dangerous for Chelsea who are holding the chain.

The Chelsea players are aware of this and they have re-stepped up their midfield build-up to keep City under pressure.

The benefits of such a change were immediate, with the initiative back in Chelsea's hands.

And in the 42nd minute, Chelsea attacked from the flanks and played down the middle, where Godin headed the ball out as he battled with Drogba.

But because of Drogba's interference, Godin didn't push the ball far. The soccer ball flew out and landed at the top of the free throw arc.

Just before everyone could react, Chelsea's No. 8 Frank Lampard suddenly rushed up and met the ball with a kick!

Bang bang!

The ball was whipped towards goal by Frank Lampard's forefoot.

There was nothing Joe Hart could do about such a sudden kick, and his save was noticeably slower than the ball, and his palm slid across the trajectory of the ball when it hit the net behind him......

"The ball is in! The ball is in!! Just as the first half was about to end, Chelsea at home took the lead! ”

John Mortenson yelled.

'Frank Lampard's volley was beautiful!! The ball was shot very suddenly! If he stops the ball and kicks it again, the ball will probably be gone......" commented Alan Hansen.

Stamford Bridge, which had just shown some signs of silence, was set ablaze by Frank Lampard's volley, with all the Chelsea fans leaping from their seats and raising their arms and chanting.

They were shouting the name of the goalscorer, Frank Lampard.

A veteran of many years at Chelsea, vice-captain Frank Lampard has won the hearts of many Chelsea supporters, and now Lampard has proved that Chelsea fans love him with a kick when the team needs him most.

'Chelsea take the lead at home! This season's league title race is good! ”

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Seeing Frank Lampard score, a crowd rushed out of the Chelsea dugout and bench to celebrate the goal, just like the Chelsea fans in the stands.

As the head coach of the team, Carlo Ancelotti was not too excited, he just waved his fist, more of a sigh of relief - he finally scored before the end of the first half and took the lead, so the tactics were not in vain.

But Carlo Ancelotti didn't lose his mind because of the goal.

As the head coach of the team, you must always be calm and sober. Both in the lead and in the laggard.

His brain was racing and he was starting to think about what to do next, especially the remaining minutes of the first half.

Generally speaking, after the team takes the lead in a game, they will be demoralized and let them continue to attack, and the performance in the attack is usually not bad, and for a while they can almost press the opponent to play. If you can take advantage of the opportunity and score another goal, it will not be difficult to extend the lead.

If the goal had taken place midway through the first half, Carlo Ancelotti might have let his team play like that.

But not now, he must not allow his players to continue to pry into City's goal after taking the lead.

Because it's a very dangerous act!

He feared that the players had gotten carried away and given City a chance to counter-attack. He watched Lyon's home game against Manchester City three days ago. Lyon was too smooth in attack, and the players got a little carried away, and they were beaten back by Manchester City and conceded the goal.

As someone who has played against Rongguang in the Champions League final, Ancelotti can barely be regarded as Rongguang's old rival.

He knew the man well.

For others, conceding a goal may have dampened his fighting spirit and confidence.

But Glory won't.

On the contrary, conceding a goal only stimulates Rong Rong and makes him more aggressive.

Even if there was not much time left in the first half, Ancelotti didn't want to take that risk.

He was reluctant to give Glory the slightest chance to equalise.

If they were scored before the end of the first half, then wasn't Chelsea's first half for nothing?

Thinking of this, he decided to make some adjustments so that the team did not continue to attack after scoring, but contracted the defense.

But now the stadium is very noisy and noisy, almost everyone is cheering, and if he yells on the sidelines, his voice will be broken, and no one will hear what he is saying.

So Carlo Ancelotti decided to find someone to teach him, and he simply rushed into the pitch to find Ballack, who was closest to him.

"Sue them, don't rush to attack, in the final stages of the first half, defend! Be sure to step up your defense! ”

Ancelotti is not just looking for someone to talk to, and if he does, they may still have some doubts about their decision.

But Barak won't.

Because Ballack is arguably the man who knows the glory the most in this Chelsea team.

Sure enough, after listening to Ancelotti's words, Ballack did not ask Ancelotti "why", but nodded and ran to find his teammates.

Ancelotti also returned to his place, while also throwing an apologetic look at the fourth official.

The manager is not allowed to rush into the pitch during the game, and of course, if you have a good attitude, the referee will usually turn a blind eye.

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Ballack was quick to bring Carlo Ancelotti's latest tweaks to his team-mates.

The Chelsea players who had just scored were still in a state of great excitement, and they were stunned when they suddenly heard that the manager had let the defense shrink.

But soon, they all reacted - we were against a team with great glory!

Then it's right to be cautious......

So after the game restarted, everyone saw that Chelsea did not take advantage of the victory to chase after it, but chose to retreat, even if the possession was at their feet, they did not invest a lot of troops in attack.

John Mortenson saw why.

'With a few minutes left in the first half, Chelsea really couldn't afford to give City an equaliser. To be able to go into the break with a one-goal lead would be a good thing for Carlo Ancelotti's side. ”

Alan Hansen also nodded in agreement: "Carlo Ancelotti is still very calm, he didn't let his mind get carried away by the goal at this time......