WAYNE Bridge made a point and Manchester City left Stamford Bridge with all three as they did their bitter rivals United a huge favour by thrashing a Chelsea side who finished the game with nine men.

Much had been made about what could be expected to happen during the pre-match handshakes when City's Wayne Bridge would come face to face with John Terry, the man who infamously had an alleged affair with the mother of the full-back's child.

In the end, there was no mass boycott of the formalities by the City players, just an icy stare from Bridge as he refused to shake Terry's hand. It is fair to say that Bridge may have taken even more satisfaction from the victory than his team-mates, even though they will have been pleased enough with themselves.

The result had much to do with the absence of one player from the pitch, as opposed to the presence of others on it.

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Frank Lampard put Chelsea ahead after 42 minutes, only for deputising goalkeeper Henrique Hilario to gift City a goal each side of the interval. He failed to make saves from Carlos Tevez and Craig Bellamy which Petr Cech would have regarded as routine had he not been forced to sit out the match through injury.

As the hosts imploded, Juliano Belletti was red-carded for tripping Gareth Barry, in the process conceding a penalty which Tevez converted to put City 3-1 up. Michael Ballack was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Tevez before Bellamy made it 4-1 three minutes from time.

Lampard got his second of the game with a stoppage-time penalty, but that did nothing for Chelsea's cause in terms of the title race, the defeat leaving them ahead of Manchester United by just a point, with both teams having played the same number of matches.

For Bridge, however, it was a perfect afternoon. He retains the moral high ground, despite the disgraceful chants that were aimed at him by the fans of a club he used to play for, and City are back in the top four.

Putting the Terry-Bridge issue aside, after their midweek Champions League defeat to Inter Milan, Chelsea went into this match looking to re- establish a four-point advantage over United while for City it was a chance to reinforce their top-four credentials after losing at Stoke in the FA Cup.

Although Chelsea were not at their best, they monopolised possession in the opening stages and could have been in front when Didier Drogba fired a first-time shot over the bar from six yards.

An overworked Vincent Kompany sliced a wholesale lingerie shot over his own bar as City barely emerged from their own half. And so it was no surprise when Lampard struck.

Joe Cole had cut a frustrated figure for much of the half and clearly remains some way below his best, but he spotted Lampard's perfectly-timed run in a flash and, once through, there was never any real doubt the midfielder would beat Shay Given, which he did with a precise shot into the corner. The home fans breathed a sigh of relief, only for Tevez to turn the spotlight on to Hilario, and not in a good way if you were Carlo Ancelotti or a Chelsea supporter.

With Cech out for a month with a calf injury, the coach is relying on Hilario at a crucial stage of the season, a situation the Italian is not likely to be happy with after watching Tevez's effort roll into the net.

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