John Terry was snubbed by Wayne Bridge and humiliated by Craig
Bellamy as Manchester City blew the title race wide open with a
stunning 4-2 victory at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea.
Terry, stripped of the England captaincy after revelations about
his relationship with Bridge's former partner, had to suffer the
indignity of his former friend and team-mate refusing to shake his
hand before kick-off.
Snubbed: Wayne Bridge refuses to shake the hand of
John Terry
Then Bellamy, who shared City's goals with the returning Carlos
Tevez, put the boot into Terry's shattered reputation just as
ruthlessly as his team had exposed nine-man Chelsea on the
counter-attack.
'I know what JT's like,' said Bellamy. 'Nothing surprises me
about him. Everyone in football knows what the guy's ike. But
that's off the field. On the field, he's an outstanding player and
a great captain for Chelsea, and it's always going to be difficult
when you play him and his team.'
Rivals: Wayne Bridge goes head to head with John
Terry for the first time since revelations about Terry's
relationship with Bridge's former partner
But it was a terrible end to another traumatic week for Terry
and Chelsea, on and off the pitch, with the apparent collapse of
injured defender Ashley Cole's marriage only adding to the air of
sleaze. Bridge - who has said he does not want to be picked for
England following the stories about Terry and Vanessa Perroncel,
the mother of his three-year-old son - went to shake Terry's hand
in the traditional line-up before the match only to then pull it
away.
Frank Lampard gave Chelsea a deserved lead but Terry, having
been at fault for the first of Inter Milan's goals in Wednesday's
2-1 Champions League defeat in Italy, was caught out by the pace of
Tevez in first-half stoppage-time.
Heated: Chelsea's John Terry clashes with
Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez
The City striker, back after two weeks in Argentina at the
bedside of his newborn daughter, scored after a mistake by stand-in
goalkeeper Henrique Hilario, who was also at fault for Bellamy's
first goal.
