Stoke in disguise: Chelsea played like a small team, claims Pellegrini

Posted Monday, September 22, 2014 by Goal.com

The Premier League champions went behind after Andre Schurrle's strike but were rescued by Frank Lampard, who netted against his former club to seal a point

Manuel Pellegrini has accused Chelsea of playing like a “small team” in their 1-1 draw with Manchester City on Sunday.

The reigning Premier League champions were reduced to 10 men in the second half after Pablo Zabaleta’s dismissal and went behind following Andre Schurrle’s strike from close range.

However, Frank Lampard, on as a substitute, scored against his former club with five minutes remaining to salvage a point for City.

Pellegrini has likened Chelsea's mentality to Stoke City's, despite the fact Mark Hughes' men beat the Premier League champions at the Etihad Stadium in August.

"I'm not satisfied with the result," the Chilean said. "I think we played 90 minutes against a small team just trying to defend; trying to just to keep 10 players in front of their goal.

"[We were] the team that wanted to win from the beginning, we had two or three clear chances especially in the second and after we went down to 10 players we continued trying to win.

"That is why I'm satisfied with the performance of the team but not so satisfied with the score.

"I don't want to analyse Chelsea. I think we played against the same team as we played against Stoke here.

"It was very difficult for us to score but what the other teams do - it's not my duty to analyse."

The Chilean also praised Lampard following the 36-year-old’s first goal for City since arriving on loan at the start of August.

"He's a top player,” Pellegrini said.

"When I talked with him about staying with our team before he goes to New York and he said yes, I was sure he would be a very important player for us.

"I asked him if he wants to be involved today, and of course he wants to be involved. He's a great professional. I congratulate him because it's not easy but he always wanted to be involved."