Three intensive days of training, a forensic examination of the home side's weaknesses and manager's own brand of X factor added up to three points, writes Martin Lipton
They travelled to the Etihad as underdogs. But Chelsea had the man with the plan. And for all Jose Mourinho's attempts at deflection, the Blue shadow is hanging over Arsenal and Manchester City.
On Monday night, Mourinho's managerial masterclass did not merely make Manuel Pellegrini's men look more than mortal, it underlined his status as the big beast of the Premier League jungle.
In the seven games played against Arsenal, City, Liverpool, Spurs and Manchester United so far, Mourinho is unbeaten and has taken 15 points from 21, winning the key tactical battles in a variety of ways.
At Old Trafford, it was no strikers. At White Hart Lane, a change at the break turning the match on its head. At the Emirates, blunting Arsenal's attacking armoury.
And at the Etihad, in the biggest test of all so far, three intensive days on the training ground, a forensic examination of City - and his own brand of X factor - all added to the most critical victory of the entire season.
Arsenal fans have remembered that 'Arsene knows', while the City supporters still have faith that 'The Engineer' Pellegrini has built a title-winning machine.
But Mourinho's players know they have the proven winner - the gaffer with the answers. The 12th man who can and does make the difference.
Gary Cahill, immense at centre-half alongside skipper John Terry, summed up the burgeoning belief of the dressing room.
"He's got the CV for a reason," said the England international. "He's obviously a top quality manager.
"The club, obviously, is a massive club. And when you've got a massive club, with massive players, and you add a massive manager, it combines really well.
Laurence Griffiths 
"It's not necessarily about egos, but he knows how to manage big players, and everything else that comes with it. We worked on a few things in the last couple of days, which he was adamant we would put into practice. And it did pay off for us."
Of course it did.
Mourinho, six months in, has begun to instill the same sense of certainty, confidence and expectation he did in his first incarnation.
There is now an automatic response to situations, which was not the case when he gambled at the beginning of the campaign.
Since looking a mess at Everton, being bailed out by a goalkeeping howler at Norwich, even losing at Newcastle and at Stoke, Chelsea have grown, matured, becoming an extension of the manager's personality.
Having given his players a day off after their frustrating midweek goalless draw with West Ham, Mourinho started work at Chelsea's Cobham training ground last Friday - dusting them down, then building them up.
But it was on Saturday and Sunday - two intensive, full-on 90-minute sessions, ending with Mourinho explaining the game-plan, albeit with the players expecting Oscar, rather than Willian, to start against City - that the seeds of Monday's triumph were grown.
Mourinho, pointing out City's weaknesses as well as their strengths, had said it all when he announced the team on Monday lunchtime, allowing masseur Billy McCulloch's dressing-room comedy act to ease the pre-match tension.
Asked whether the Portuguese's plan was a secret, Cahill smiled as he replied: "Yes, so I don't want to say, just in case I get hammered for it! We had a strategy, and we worked on things, and they paid off."
That strategy was to stay compact when Pellegrini's men had the ball, and to exploit the midfield gaps left by Yaya Toure, the space in behind left-back Aleksandar Kolarov, the fact City simply are not used to being pressed, harried, hurt.
For the half-hour spell either side of the break, Pellegrini's Mancunian Blues did not know what had hit them, with Chelsea striking the woodwork three times, Branislav Ivanovic scoring the only goal and Ramires missing a sitter
Cahill added: "Just before we left the hotel, it came on the TV saying they hadn't failed to score [at the Etihad] since 2010. We were buzzing, hearing that literally 10 minutes before we set off!
"I think they were talking about how many it was going to be. But we defended really well. You have to work hard, don't you? They've got quality players, a lot of strength and power and sometimes they steamroller teams, out-muscles them.
"We needed to match that from the off and I thought we did. The work-rate was brilliant."
As was the manager, even if Mourinho himself insisted: "The plan is nothing without the players, nothing at all."
New signing Nemanja Matic, so powerful in the midfield engine room, added: "The coach showed us some videos of City, and of course they were the right videos - to show the quality, but also where they make mistakes.
"We prepared well. Everyone knew what they were meant to do, which is why we got the result."
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