Ten points and four places separated the two sides prior to kick-off, but by the end of the night that gap had been cut to seven and two. A narrow setback at Stamford Bridge was City's first defeat of the season, with Roberto Mancini's side having sent records tumbling this term. They have, however, opened the door to those below them with their failure to extend their unbeaten start to 15 matches. Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham will all believe that they can overhaul City at the top of the table, with Cech of the opinion that the Blues had to win on Monday to keep themselves in the race. "We have cut the gap on City down to seven points, so we are back in the title race," the Czech keeper wrote on his personal website. "We are five points behind United and I think we have put some pressure on both Manchester clubs. "It was an extremely important match for us and we needed to win it. "Had we lost we would have been 13 points behind City and that would have been too much. Seven points looks a lot different to 13. "Let's wait and see how a first defeat of the season impacts them." Chelsea have now secured three straight wins in all competitions, with Newcastle and Valencia having also been put to the sword, and Cech hopes the Blues are heading towards a brighter future. "I hope so," he said. "The most important thing is that we did not break down after going behind against City. That will help us psychologically."
