Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has claimed that his side were the "better team" during their 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
David Silva scored on the stroke of half time to cancel out Loic Remy's earlier strike in a result that keeps the gap between the pair at the top of the Premier League table at five points.
Afterwards, the City boss told the official website: "We have to play 45 points more, it was important for our team to try and close that gap to two points, but it was impossible, but I repeat we did all we could: personality, football, intention, possession. But I think that this game will be important for our team because we will recover our normal standard of play.
"Edin Dzeko has recovered from injury, Samir Nasri is returning that's why this can give us a lot of trust to come here against the leaders at Stamford Bridge, that will give us a lot of trust and I really think that we were the better team than Chelsea today."
Manchester City will be hopeful of cutting the gap when they face struggling Hull City next weekend.