Torres fires late winner as Chelsea go second

Fernando Torres got his reward for an irrepressible display that he has rarely produced for Chelsea when he scored a last-minute winner after a defensive mix-up in a 2-1 Premier League victory over Manchester City on Sunday.

The Spain striker, who set up Andre Schuerrle's first-half goal, missed a sitter and also struck the woodwork, gleefully fired into an empty net after City defender Matija Nastasic's header back to Joe Hart went sailing past the outrushing keeper.

Sergio Aguero had levelled soon after halftime for City as victory lifted Chelsea back up to second place, level on 20 points with Liverpool and two behind leaders Arsenal.

"In a game like this against a great team in the last minutes it tastes much better to score. We controlled the game and created many chances but Sergio Aguero can score goals at any time," Torres told Sky Sports.

"We won a game we deserved to win, we are really pleased to beat a contender for the title."

Roberto Soldado's 80th-minute penalty secured Tottenham Hotspur a 1-0 home win over Hull City and lifted them up to fourth, while Sunderland moved off the foot of the table after substitute Fabio Borini lashed in a superb late winner in a 2-1 derby victory over Newcastle United.

Italian Borini, on loan from Liverpool, lifted the gloom at the Stadium of Light when he thundered a 25-metre rocket past a flailing Tim Krul six minutes from time to hand Sunderland a first league win of the season.

Torres's late goal had manager Jose Mourinho celebrating with fans in the stands and left City manager Manuel Pellegrini stony-faced and in no mood to shake the Portuguese's hand after the final whistle.

German Schuerrle, signed from Bayer Leverkusen in the close season, notched his first Chelsea goal when he turned in a Torres cross from close range on 33 minutes after the Spaniard had burst past Gael Clichy and pulled the ball back from close to the byline.

Torres had moments earlier missed a golden opening when left unmarked with just Hart to beat, blazing over the bar. But after setting up Schuerrle, the striker grew in confidence and was close to netting a superb second, turning inside from a tight angle and blasting against the woodwork.

City had the better of the second half, levelling when Aguero ran on to Samir Nasri's pass to smash a shot past Petr Cech for his sixth goal in the last four league games.

A smart save by Cech with his legs then denied David Silva a goal and the game appeared to be heading for a draw until Willian lofted the ball forward and a breakdown in communication between Nastasic and Hart cost the visitors dear.

"From tomorrow, we will think about the best way to stop the problems of losing away," Pellegrini said after a defeat which left City in seventh place.

"We are losing stupid points, the three defeats we got away we did not deserve. We have time to arrange."

Hull defended stoutly to frustrate Spurs at White Hart Lane but their resistance was broken when Jan Vertonghen's cross hit the arms of Ahmed Elmohamady and Soldado scored from the spot.

England winger Andros Townsend needed lengthy treatment late on when he went flying over the advertising hoardings, emerging after a few minutes to resume the game with his wrist bandaged.

Relieved Sunderland manager Gus Poyet hailed his side's win over Newcastle as a stepping stone to brighter times.

Poyet saw his side concede four at Swansea in his first game in charge last weekend but Borini left him with a smile on his face.

"It gives us everything. We needed something. Now there are no excuses, we can go next week and win another game and continue to improve," the Uruguayan said.

Darren Fletcher headed the hosts into an early lead but Mathieu Debuchy equalised from Hatem Ben Arfa's cross on 57 minutes.

Swansea City and West Ham United drew 0-0 in Sunday's other game, the London side's striker Ricardo Vaz Te suffering a dislocated shoulder according to manager Sam Allardyce.

FULL TIME

90+4" Torres is the man as he fires in a 90th minute winner following a defensive howler to give Chelsea a precious three points at home against title favourites Manchester City to go climb to second in the table above Liverpool on goal difference.

The Spaniard missed a sitter but provided a brilliant assist for Schurrle's goal for Chelsea before Aguero equalised after the interval.

Fernando Torres said: "I'm really happy for the team's performance and for victory against one of the contenders for the Premier League.

"In a game like this against a great team in the last minutes it tastes much better to score."

Four minutes of added time as Stamford Bridge has come alive. Mourinho is jumping with joy and hugging every Chelsea fan around him after Torres' goal.

90" GOAL! Torres scores the simplest of goal after Nastasic nudges it over the advancing Hart.

Chelsea 2 (Schurrle 33 Torres 90) Manchester City 1 (Aguero 49)

87" Willian lashes the ball across towards the back post but no Chelsea player in on to attack the goal.

86" Aguero is being replaced by Negredo.

85" Aguero is down after a challenge by Terry but play continues and Chelsea earn a free kick.

84" Eto'o gets away with a late challenge on Zabaleta.

83" Chelsea play their final as Eto'o replaces Hazard.

82" Torres wins a corner after a floater from Oscar is played in by Ramires.

80" City are forced to play deep against the rampant Blues.

79" City make their second change as Kolarov comes in for Garcia.

77" Chelsea on the charge with Hazard in the thick of move while Ramires cracks one over the crossbar.

76" Cahill fails to latch onto a superb free kick from Oscar after Ramires is fouled on the edge of the box.

74" City's Silva is at the receiving end of fierce tackle from Ivanovic, while Aguero attempts a curling lob to the far post which goes wide.

73" Mourinho is shaking his head after Ivanovic is brought down in the centre without a foul being given.

72" Navas finds space but is thwarted by Cahill as City step up their offensives.

70" Nasri is replaced by Jesus Navas.

69" Oscar sends the free kick from 30 yards out sailing over the crossbar.

68" Torres is a marked man being bundled to the ground by Fernandinho and Garcia.

66" Double substitution by Chelsea with Schurrle and Lampard making way for Willian and Mikel.

64" Silva's close range shot is cleared by Cech with his left foot.

62" Torres is offside after Oscar tries to turn a pass around the corner for the Spaniard.

60" Fine free kick from Lampard which Terry tries to slide in on the back post without success.

59" YELLOW! Garcia is booked after a physical challenge on Torres who was running through the middle.

58" Torres heads a corner straight to Hart.

56" City have made 12 attempts at goal as against 7 by Chelsea.

55" Chelsea are denied a possible penalty after Zabaleta brings down Hazard inside the box.

Hazard tricks Zabaleta a couple of times before the challenge comes in but referee Howard Webb just gives a goal kick.

54" Chelsea struggling to get a foothold on the game with Nasri breaking through once again.

52" Cech saves a header from Garcia following the free kick.

51" YELLOW! Ramires booked for a nasty tackle on Nasri.

49" GOAL! Aguero get the equaliser with a superb left-footed first-time from a tight angle into the roof of the net after Nasri slips in a pass.

Chelsea 1 (Schurrle 33) Manchester City 1 (Aguero 49)

48" Zabaleta sends one blazing over the cross bar.

47" Cole does well to put pressure on the City defence.

46" City get the second half underway with no changes being made by either side.

HALF TIME

Andre Schürrle gave Chelsea a 1-0 advantage at half time with a 33rd minute strike at Stamford Bridge against Manchester City.

Torres missed a sitter, set up the only goal of the first half with a brilliant build-up play on the right with a low cross and then hit the cross bar all within the space of five exciting minutes to give Chelsea the upper hand.

Aguero came close a couple of times for City with Cech bringing off a good save.

Chelsea 1 (Schürrle 33) Manchester City 0

45+2" Toure blasts another shot over as the short whistle goes.

45" Lampard is forced to concede a corner after pressure from City which is headed away by Terry while Toure blasts over the crossbar.

43" Terry misses with a header following a cross from Lampard after Torres wins a corner.

42" Cech blocks a shot from close range by Aguero while Fernandinho fires over from the rebound.

39" Nasri is down after Aguero made a weak attempt to find the goal.

37" Torres is on a hot streak finding right post with a superb shot from the edge of the box across goal after cutting inside on the left.

35" Ivanovic can't latch onto the pass after a free kick from Oscar.

33" GOAL! Andre Schürrle jabs a left-footed shot from very close range to the centre of the goal after a brilliant low cross from Torres.

Chelsea 1 Manchester City 0

31" YELLOW! Nastasic is booked for a nasty tackle on Torres.

29" Torres misses a sitter skewing hit shot over after a cross from Ramires.

Ramires plays him in on goal, Hart comes out and Torres smashes the shot over the top from 10 yards.

28" Torres stumbles trying to chest a lovely cross from Ramires but the flag has gone up.

26" YELLOW! Zabaleta is booked for a foul on Hazard.

24" Aguero is almost found by a teasing through ball from Fernandino but can't bring it under control.

21" YELLOW! Lampard is booked for lunging tackle on Fernandinho.

19" Silva's third corner is frittered away with Aguero tightly marked.

18" Aguero goes finding Cech despite appeals for hand ball.

16" City get their third successive corner which is taken on the right by Nasri but Schurrle heads it away once again.

15" Torres does his best to follow a long through ball which ends in a goal kick.

14" Aguero battles to win the ball and forces another corner after Fernandinho floats the ball into the box.

13" City are finding their feet and surging forward forcing their first corner which comes to nothing.

12" Nasri fires just wide but the whistle had gone with Aguero down.

11" Cole wins a free kick after tangling with Toure in the defensive half.

7" Hart saves a header from Torres from outside the box following a cross by Ramires.

6" Cole clears to safety after a pass from Fernandinho as City burst forward after taking a free kick quickly.

5" Agüero wins a free kick on the left wing but it is Chelsea who are calling the shots.

3" Cahill fires a volley over the top with Hart at his mercy after Oscar floated a cross following the first corner which is headed away by Toure.

2" Chelsea making the early forays with Oscar and Torres darting through while Hazard stumbles on the edge of the box.

1" Oscar and Torres get the match underway from the left to a huge roar from the home crowd at Stamford Bridge.

City will be in all black today. Chelsea in their traditional royal blue.

Aguero plays as the lone striker City. Cole returns while Torres starts for Chelsea.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho speaking ahead of the match said: "City are showing respect with the team they are playing. You don't need to play with all your strikers to create problems, they are keeping the midfield more compact."

Petr Cech plays his 445th Chelsea game, equalling Dennis Wise as the Blues' sixth-highest appearance maker.

"We want to try to get 3 points, we’ll see how they come and what formation they play because they have a lot of options," he said.

Mourinho in his programme took a dig at the crowded fixtures list: "On Monday we play @ the Emirates. Sorry not Monday. Tuesday. I forgot they gave us 24 hours to recover for another big game."

City hand debut for Martin Demichelis against, while Pable Zabaleta returns to the starting line-up.

PLAYING XI

Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Cole, Ramires, Lampard, Hazard, Oscar, Schurrle, Torres.

Subs: Schwarzer, Azpilicueta, Luiz, Mikel, Willian, Mata, Eto’o.

Man City: Hart; Zabaleta, Demichelis, Nastasic, Clichy; Garcia, Fernandinho, Yaya Toure; Nasri Silva; Aguero.

Subs: Pantilimon, Navas, Kolarov, Dzeko, Negredo, Milner, Richards.

TEAM NEWS

Chelsea

Chelsea moved into second following the 4-1 win over Cardiff City at the weekend and after dispatching of Schalke 04 with ease.

José Mourinho must decide who to start up front, with Fernando Torres and Samuel Eto'o vying for spot in the team following their goalscoring exploits the past week.

Manchester City

Manchester City have now won their last three consecutive Premier League games 3-1 following the victory at West Ham United on Saturday.

Jesús Navas may come into the starting XI after missing the win over West Ham, but playing the full 90 minutes against CSKA Moscow.

STAT ATTACK

Chelsea have won 11 of their last 12 home matches in the Premier League.

Man City have won six of their last seven matches against Chelsea in all competitions.    

PREVIEW

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho is delighted his strikers have started finding the net just in time to face fellow title challengers Manchester City, who have the Premier League's best goal-scoring record.

Samuel Eto'o scored his first goal for the club last weekend, also the first goal by one of their recognised strikers in the league this season, while fellow forward Fernando Torres hit two in Tuesday's 3-0 win at Schalke in the Champions League.

"It was a positive week for Torres and Eto'o because they scored goals and that is what gives them the greatest happiness," Mourinho told a news conference on Friday.

Chelsea's 14 league goals have come from a variety of sources with Oscar grabbing four and another attacking midfielder, Eden Hazard, scoring three.

"I'm happy with all of the strikers. They were not scoring goals but they were working really hard. They were doing a good job for the team and for their team mates," Mourinho said.

"There are different ways of contributing for the team than just scoring goals, and all three always did that."

It is a different story at City, where more than half of their 20 league goals have come from their strikers with Sergio Aguero leading the way with six.

Mourinho avoided giving to much significance in terms of the title race to Sunday's encounter with them at Stamford Bridge.

"We have tests every week," he said. "It's a big team, a very good team but every game in the Premier League is a test."

His opposite number Manuel Pellegrini was similarly keen to play down the fixture so early in the season.

"Of course it's an important moment, it's always important playing against a team that has a lot of chance to win the league," the Chilean told a news conference.

"But this is our ninth game and we have a lot of games in the future. It is an important game, but it will not decide anything."

Mourinho is boosted by the availability of defender Ashley Cole after the England left back missed their last two matches with a rib injury.

The Portuguese was quoted on the club website (www.chelseafc.com) as saying the only player unavailable for action this weekend was long-term absentee Marco van Ginkel who is recovering from cruciate ligament surgery.

City, however, did not have good news on the injury front with captain and centre back Vincent Kompany still sidelined with a thigh injury sustained in the 3-1 win over Everton on October 5.

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