Manuel Pellegrini Critical of Jose Mourinho's 'Small Club' tactics

By Scott Saunders

Former Chelsea favourite Frank Lampard scored a late equaliser for City, who had Pablo Zabaleta sent off for two yellow cards midway through the second half. Andre Schurrle gave Chelsea the lead shortly afterwards, before Lampard struck to share the points.

Pellegrini was unhappy with the way his opposite number set his team out, after he saw his own side boss possession but struggle to break Chelsea down. The Chilean compared the match to City's recent home defeat by Stoke City.

According to ESPN, he said: "I think we played during 90 minutes against a small team trying to defend, trying to keep 10 players in front of their goal and [City were] a team that wanted to win from the beginning.

"We had two or three clear chances to score at the start of the second half and after with 10 players, we continued trying to win. I am satisfied with the performance of my team but I am not satisfied with the score.

"I think we played against exactly the same team we played against Stoke here. It will be very difficult for us to score. Finally we could score."

Pellegrini also praised the professionaism of Lampard, who spent 13 years at Chelsea and was muted in his celebration after he scored.

He continued: "When I sent Lampard into the game, I told him go and score. I was so sure Frank would play well against Chelsea because he is a very good professional. I spoke with him at the beginning of the week and he wanted to be involved, he is a very good player and a great professional so I am very happy with him.

"I was absolutely sure he will be a very useful player for our team. He has nothing to do in New York until January when they started the season there.

"It was very important for him to continue working every day and playing in our team but it was very important for our team to have a player with the experience and quality of Frank Lampard."

For more articles and the latest soccer news, check out FTBpro.com