Gary Cahill and David Luiz revel in Chelsea victory

Gary Cahill thinks the stunning comeback victory over Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium showed Chelsea’s character.

The Blues staged a second-half fightback to beat their title rivals 3-1 before the match ended with a bench-clearing melee and two red cards.

Sergio Aguero was sent off in injury time for a nasty challenge on David Luiz and Fernandinho also saw red in the scuffle that followed as City lost their cool during a potentially damaging defeat.

City dominated the first hour, but had only a Cahill own goal to show for it before quickfire strikes from Diego Costa and impressive substitute Willian transformed the game.

Eden Hazard wrapped up the Premier League leaders’ eighth successive win in the last minute before controversy erupted.

“We were 1-0 down but we had a lot of pressure to soak up in the first half,” Cahill told Sky Sports 1.

“We knew we were in the game. We got to 1-1 and started building the momentum and showed a lot of character.

“We’re not at Christmas yet but it’s encouraging to have eight wins (in a row) now and it was a test.

“We showed another side to our football and we’re delighted.”

 

Chelsea have now won eight games in a row in the Premier League dating back to the 2-0 victory over strugglers Hull on October 1.

Brazilian Luiz, who had ice strapped to his knee following Aguero’s tackle, declined to speak about the brawl at the end of the match and instead chose to dedicate the win to those killed in the Chapecoense plane crash.

Players from both sides wore black arm bands in tribute to the 71 people who died in Monday’s crash outside Medellin, Colombia.

“I don’t want to speak about these kind of things,” Luiz said when asked about the challenge, “I prefer to give this victory to the people in Brazil.

“I had some friends there and it’s difficult to play this kind of game.

“We just need to play for the families because it’s difficult for everyone.”