Chelsea defender Gary Cahill has laughed off pre-game talk that his team would employ 'park-the-bus' tactics in Monday night's win over Manchester City.
The Blues left Manchester with a 1-0 win after a tactically stern performance, counterattacking with speed when some had predicted manager Jose Mourinho to focus exclusively on defence in order to combat their opponents' free-scoring attackers.
Before Monday, Manuel Pellegrini's men had not yet lost at the Etihad Stadium in 2013-14 and boasted a record of 115 goals in all competitions, but the England international is amused by the notion that his side might not have even tried to push for all three points.
"We were disciplined defensively with the two midfielders and centre-backs staying solid. It was a class performance.
"[City] have quality players but they also have strength and power and sometimes they steamroller teams.
"We needed to match that from the off and I thought we did. Our creative players were creative, we defended well and got a clean sheet, which is rare [against City]."
The 28-year-old hailed his manager for the work that he put into nullifying their opponents.
"Jose has the CV for a reason," the centre-back enthused. "He is obviously a top-quality manager and we worked on a few things in the last couple of days which he was adamant we put into practice."
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