Man City boss Pellegrini calls on Mourinho to A

Mourinho replaced Terry with Kurt Zouma for the second half – the first time that he has substituted his captain in the Premier League – and Ramires thought that he had pulled Chelsea level five minutes in but the linesman raised his flag for a marginal offside as the Brazilian obliviously wheeled off in celebration.

The first appearance of Chelsea’s medical staff on the pitch prompted a chorus of ironic cheers and chants of “Eva, Eva, Eva” from the home fans, a result of the row over the controversial demotions of Eva Carneiro and Jon Fearn after the Swanse game. The Gunners have secured back-to-back FA Cups but not won the league since the invincible campaign of 2003/04.

Pellegrini concedes he and Mourinho have had their differences, but the Chilean will shake hands because he does not want any controversy to overshadow the clash between two of the leading contenders for the title.

“You do it because the other teams have no conditions to react”. They will be trying to win. A lot of them can react. Today we played real Premier League football from the first minute to the last.

“I can not say it’s crucial, it’s decisive, or it’s very, very important”, said Mourinho.

“Yes, because we were champions“, he said. Both teams have spent millions to bring in the best players in the world and we try to build a playing XI from the two sides.

Last season, the Ivorian was nothing like the Yaya Toure we knew. We did that.

Mourinho does not mention Wenger by name but, unless the Portuguese has decided to launch an entirely unprovoked attack on Northern Irish side Portadown’s long-serving boss Ronnie McFall, there is no other top-level manager in Europe who has been at the same club for 15 years.

Mourinho will, however, be boosted with a fully-fit squad to take to Eastlands should playmaker Oscar (knock) come through a late fitness test as expected, but Courtois will begin a three-match suspension, giving new-signing Asmir Begovic a chance in the Blues’ goal. The forward went through the entire pre-season without a goal, and surprisingly failed to score against Swansea last weekend. Another classic Mourinho distraction tactic.