Graphic: talking tactics

Manchester City’s owners are discovering the hard way that the most important ingredients in a team are those that money cannot buy. Commitment, teamwork and organisation were all displayed by Chelsea yesterday as they reestablished their foothold in the title race, but for the visiting team such qualities were nowhere to be seen.

Such characteristics should be instilled by a manager, which is why City may give serious thought to replacing Mark Hughes in the summer. Hughes deserves some sympathy for being saddled with players who appear to have little sense of professional pride, but the buck for failing to motivate them stops with him.

One of the most talented groups of players in the club’s history, who were good enough to beat Arsenal 3-0 in November, have become something of an embarrassment. City could go on to win the Uefa Cup and even qualify for next season’s competition via their league position, but such success should not be allowed to disguise a series of dismal away performances that have brought only one league win this season. Hughes featured on the shortlist when Chelsea were looking for a new manager last summer, but he may have to seek employment at a smaller club in the event that he loses his job Oddly, given the frequency with which they wield the axe, Chelsea stand as exemplars of the model managerial switch, as the side have been transformed since Guus Hiddink took over last month.

The Dutchman has given his players a renewed appetite and self-belief to engineer a run of six wins from seven matches and, given their sense of purpose, it is conceivable that they could go unbeaten for the remainder of the season. Manchester United cannot rest easy on their four-point lead yet, with Chelsea determined to pursue them vigorously.

If Michael Ballack can be successfully converted into a holding midfield player, as Hiddink achieved yesterday, with the Germany captain sitting deep to allow Michael Essien and Frank Lampard to rampage forward at will, anything is possible.

Without leaving second gear Chelsea had far too much for City, who deserved to return to the North West having suffered a repeat of the 6-0 hiding they experienced on their previous visit to Stamford Bridge. If anything, Chelsea’s dominance was even more pronounced than on that occasion and with better finishing they could have moved a long way ahead of United’s goal difference, rather than drawing level on plus 33.

Lampard had the ball in the net in the third minute only to be adjudged offside and the sole surprise when Chelsea took the lead 15 minutes later was the identity of the scorer. One of Essien’s many nicknames is “The Train” - he is also known to his teammates as “The Bison” and, less charitably, “Mummy’s Boy” - and as well as powerful locomotive qualities he also shares the railway network’s occasionally erratic sense of timing, arriving to score for a second time in as many matches after being missing because of injury for most of the season.

To mark his first home appearance since August, City gave Essien the freedom of their penalty area, allowing him to swing wildly at Lampard’s free kick, the ball flying off his shin beyond Shay Given.

If Essien’s goal was fortuitous, then the luck deserted Chelsea for the remainder of the afternoon, particularly in the second half as they pushed to add to their tally. Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka and Juliano Belletti went close, while their dominance was such that even Florent Malouda got in on the act, with the substitute having a shot cleared off the line by Richard Dunne.

City offered nothing in return, to leave Hughes searching for excuses, with the Welshman claiming that the bright spring sunshine had adversely affected his players. That may explain why Robinho and Elano sought sanctuary in the dressing-room when they were removed in the second half. Sheikh Mansour, the City owner, may wish to consider installing a retractable roof at the City of Manchester Stadium just in case, as well as signing some players with character.

Chelsea (4-1-4-1): P Cech 5 - J Bosingwa 6, R Carvalho 6, J Terry 6, A Cole 6 - M Ballack 6 - N Anelka 6, F Lampard 7, M Essien 7, Deco 5 - D Drogba 7. Substitutes: J Belletti 6 (for Deco, 41min), F Malouda (for Drogba, 71). Not used: Hilário, J O Mikel, R Quaresma, S Kalou, Alex. Next: Tottenham (a).

Manchester City (4-1-3-2): S Given 6 - M Richards 5, R Dunne 5, N Onuoha 5, W Bridge 5 - P Zabaleta 4 - S Wright-Phillips 5, S Ireland 5, Robinho 4 - F Caicedo 3, Elano 4. Substitutes: C Evans 4 (for Caicedo, 55min), K Etuhu 4 (for Elano, 66), V Bojinov (for Robinho, 81). Not used: J Hart, J Garrido, G Fernandes, G Berti. Next: Sunderland (h).

Referee: M Riley Attendance: 41,810