At midday on Monday Jose Mourinho walked into a team meeting and told his players that he was planning for the double over Manchester City.
Two were out - star turn Oscar and John Obi Mikel - from the 0-0 draw with West Ham and two - Nemanja Matic and David Luiz - were in.
They had already beaten them 2-1 at Stamford Bridge on October 27, when Joe Hart's catastrophic mistake in the final minute cost Manuel Pellegrini's team a point.
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We've done it: Jose Mourinho celebrates Chelsea's win at the Etihad as Manuel Pellegrini looks on
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Thunderbolt: Branislav Ivanovic stunned the Etihad Stadium with his brilliant first-half strike
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Back to black: Jose Mourinho pulled off a tactical masterstroke as Chelsea secured a vital victory at City
Even Chelsea's players, who had practised something completely different before travelling to Manchester, had been outfoxed. They had travelled north on Sunday believing Willian was the odd man out in a system designed to stop City's getting a grip on this stirring night.
No-one in the Chelsea squad really believed that Oscar, their talisman with nine goals this season, could not start a game of this magnitude. They had been sold a dummy and yet the master Mourinho made this look like child's play at the Etihad. He really is the Special One.
His celebration, an approving nod of the head after Branislav Ivanovic's stunning strike beat Joe Hart all ends up, felt like the most natural thing in the world.
In the stands, Chelsea's supporters celebrated as wildly as they did when Didier Drogba struck the winning penalty in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich. It was a stunning sight. To watch the emotion, the sheer unbridled joy on their sozzled faces, was one of the most endearing moments of the season. Ivanovic's goal was of such significance that you almost wanted to be in there with them to really feel what that goal meant to them.
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Blue is the colour: Ivanovic is mobbed by his Chelsea team-mates after scoring the game's winning goal
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No room at the inn: Mourinho omitted Oscar from the starting line-up instead opting for David Luiz and Matic
To Mourinho it was simply part of the plot, the crystallisation of an idea that had been talked through after they had drawn with West Ham last Wednesday.
There were moments when he lost it, flailing his arms in the air and switching languages depending on the players involved in the latest skirmish out on the Etihad playing surface.
For David Silva, who was outstanding when he drifted inside, it was all in Spanish when the little playmaker was nailed by Branislav Ivanovic. It left nothing to the imagination.
To Luiz it was all in Portuguese every time Silva lost him, which was frequently on this mother of all football nights in Manchester.
For Alvaro Negredo it was back to Spanish when the City forward when down clutching his face towards the end of the first half. It was that kind of niggly, tempestuous affair that Mourinho thrives on. At times, the rancour felt deliberate and predetermined.
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Opinion: Mourinho was accused of 'parking the bus' with his defensive line-up, but he had the last laugh
Few managers have such an influence on matters on the field as Mourinho and his ability to break up play is unparalleled in the modern era. Others will tell you that Don Revie was just as bad at Leeds in the Seventies, but he didn't have anywhere near the same allure as Chelsea's manager.
Yet Mourinho is not without his faults. It was irritating to the extreme to watch him march five yards on to the field to wave an imaginary red card when Matija Nastasic hauled down substitute Oscar. He's better than that, or at least he should be. When referee Mike Dean sounded the death rattle for City, Mourinho was on the pitch again to demand more from his players.
To a man they filed back into position and even Eden Hazard, on the substitutes' bench after this outstanding performance, was embracing everyone at the final whistle.
After a short, sharp fist pump, Mourinho made his way to Pellegrini for the briefest of handshakes before he headed down the tunnel. For Mourinho, it meant he had pulled off the dream double.
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Centre of attention: Mourinho poses for pictures with Manchester City supporters ahead of the game
original post found here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2551199/Jose-Mourinho-Chelseas-win-Manchester-City-look-like-childs-play-He-really-Special-One.html
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