Gary Lineker: Good evening and welcome to Match of the Day for our thoughts on the fifteenth round of the Premier League season! I will be your host after each round of games and Alan Shearer and Alan Hansen will assist me as we provide fresh post-match analysis. We will be focusing on a game or two we pick from the seven clubs we have highlighted this season - usually that will be the contender derbies.
Alan Hansen: We will also show you some interview specials with the managers right after the games, as well as occasional player profiles.
Alan Shearer: And finally, but not at last place, you will be updated with the latest news on injuries, dressing room events or even rumours surrounding your favourite clubs.
Gary Lineker: So are you ready? What really happened in the latest round of world's best league? Here we go...
Gary Lineker: The first match we picked up today saw title contenders Tottenham and Chelsea clash as the hosts needed to cut the gap to the top four while the visitors wanted to keep pressure on the leaders. It was a largely uneventful game and Chelsea grabbed a late winner thanks to a penalty from Frank Lampard.
Alan Hansen: The score may seem harsh to Spurs but they didn't manage a single shot on target and were too scared to attack even though they were at home. Chelsea simply wanted it more and had the character to get the vital late winner.
Alan Shearer: Sandro was the lone man in Spurs midfield trying to do something but none of his teammates backed him. David Luiz picked up the PoM award but Essien, Cole and Lampard all were at a good level for the Blues.
Gary Lineker: Let's see what the managers had to say after the game!
Reporter: This is another late goal we see in a Tottenham game. Is there a problem with concentration levels at the death or it's more of a fitness issue?
Andre Villas-Boas: I don't think that's a fair judgment as we have been scoring late in our games, too. We had other problems that cost us the game today. We didn't create enough and we failed to use set pieces either. I was sorry to see Dawson miss three good headed chances in the Chelsea box.
Reporter: That was going to be my next question. You didn't look like scoring at any point, as a matter of fact your team failed to register any shots on target. Why was that?
Andre Villas-Boas: Our passing in the final third wasn't as sharp as I would have liked. I know the fans wanted to see a second striker on the pitch but I couldn't afford that with Chelsea lurking to expose us on the counter. Sadly a harsh penalty decision made all that irrelevant.
Reporter: Another characteristic win for a club managed by Jose Mourinho. The opposition manager felt the penalty decision was harsh though and that was the decisive point of the game. Your thoughts?
Jose Mourinho: He likes to complain, doesn't he? He can moan as much as he wants but I saw three other accidents when the ball bounced off the arm of a Spurs defender. He's not commenting on any of these, is he?
Reporter: How important is this win for your title aspirations? Both Manchester United and Newcastle dropped points today.
Jose Mourinho: Everyone will drop points and I already said that. I don't see why you're so surprised it finally happened. Yes, they were on a great run. Next thing we may go on a great run. You never know in this league. We'll give them a good run for their money though and that is a given.
Gary Lineker: Andre was unwilling to get dragged in a war of words with his old mentor but Mourinho had no such scruples. I feel Spurs lost the game because both sides represented the mentality of their managers on the pitch.
Alan Hansen: It's not important if there was a pen or there were three other pens, the result is all that matters in the end of the day.
Alan Shearer: Let's not get carried away as we have one more game to cover.
Gary Lineker: The second match we picked up today saw title contenders Manchester City and Newcastle clash at the Etihad as the hosts were looking to cut the gap to the top and inflict first defeat of the season to their visitors. After an uneventful first half it appeared that great run for the Magpies would go on as they came into the second period flying with two quick goals from Salvio and Remy. A mad tackle by Kurt Zouma got him sent off though and opened the door for the Citizens to produce an amazing comeback. Negredo grabbed two goals, including a dramatic equalizer with 3 minutes to go and then Fernandinho produced a wonderful winner just before the full time whistle.
Alan Hansen: Newcastle have themselves to blame here as I thought they were on track to a great, great away win when Zouma had a moment of sheer madness. It is games like this bringing back the memories of how the title was lost on Tyneside back in the nineties.
Alan Shearer: Toure was a monster for City, picking up the PoM award, but Negredo was equally good. Fernandinho, Zabaleta, Lucas Leiva and David Silva all impressed, too. Salvio, Marveaux and Remy were the better players for the Magpies.
Gary Lineker: Let's see what the managers had to say after the game!
Reporter: What a turnaround! You must be really confident after this game?
Manuel Pellegrini: We will not let the good final thirty minutes erase the fact we were poor for an hour before that. I am glad with the result but the performance leaves a lot to be desired. If we don't change this we may not be lucky to score late next time.
Reporter: Do you think the red card influenced the game?
Manuel Pellegrini: You don't seriously expect me to deny that, do you? Of course it did but I also thought it was deserved and from that point on that's Newcastle's concern.
Reporter: You must be devastated to come so close to a great score at the Etihad only to walk out of the game empty handed. Kurt Zouma's mistake arguably cost you three points today, will you drop him now?
Dimiter Hristov: Kurt will need to serve his suspension now but other than that I don't plan any further disciplinary action. We had a chat and he understands what he did and said sorry to both me and the team. We are building a young, talented side and things like this will inevitably happen at some stage. It's not the end of the world and we will keep working in the same direction.
Reporter: This is your first defeat in management. Are you afraid this might signal the end of your bright form and you will struggle to hold your high position in the league?
Dimiter Hristov: If you think so you haven't been in our dressing room recently. We are where we are to stay so get used to it - we're not going anywhere!
Gary Lineker: Pellegrini knows his team got lucky today with that red card and it would have been interesting to see how the game would have ended without it.
Alan Hansen: I also noticed the red card occured when Hristov had a triple change lined up and that seriously hurt his gameplan. Even then I still think City would have found a way back in the match without the sending off, they were on top at that point already.
Gary Lineker: What do you have for us in the news and rumours section today, Alan?
Alan Shearer: The usual reports of pressure on Rodgers and Wenger are still persisting. Zouma and Fabio will be suspended for Newcastle and Manchester United respectively. Aaron Lennon will be fine despite picking up a knock for Tottenham and there really aren't any other injuries for the title contenders this round. We will finish with our team of the week:
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Round 15 Team of the Week
That is all from this edition of Match of the Day! Watch out for the newspaper columns of our regular pundits to find out their take of the games!