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Premier League leaders Manchester City surrendered their unbeaten record at Stamford Bridge as Frank Lampard came off the bench to score a late penalty and secure a 2-1 win for Chelsea.

City, without so much as a goal in eight of their past nine trips to this corner of West London, started in spectacular fashion when Mario Balotelli rounded Petr Cech to put Roberto Mancini's side into the lead.

Inside 15 minutes they should have had the chance to make it 2-0 but Jose Boswinga's trip on David Silva in the penalty area went unpunished by Mark Clattenburg. Having enjoyed some good fortune, Chelsea then set about securing a third consecutive win in all competitions through their own perspiration.

Raul Meireles drew his side level with a fine volleyed finish after 34 minutes and the under scrutiny Andre Villas-Boas was given further reason to celebrate when Gael Clichy was shown a second yellow card and dismissed on 58 minutes.

As City removed Silva for Nigel de Jong in a bid to cling on for a point, it was Chelsea who snatched a winner when Joleon Lescott was penalised for handball and substitute Lampard struck the winner from 12 yards.

The victory sees Chelsea move into third place above Arsenal and Tottenham and seven points behind leaders City, who have seen their lead over Manchester United cut to two.

Even if Villas-Boas had attracted intense scrutiny on himself with his complaints about Alan Pardew, Gary Neville and the media's treatment of his club in recent days, back-to-back 3-0 wins over Newcastle United and Valencia had somewhat dispelled concerns about the porous nature of his defence.

Implementing a deeper defensive line helped to address Chelsea's vulnerability but at Stamford Bridge they were opened up within two minutes by a City side that had made the best ever start to a Premier League season by dropping only four points in their opening 14 games.

Sergio Aguero created the opening as he did superbly well to hold on to the ball on the right wing before slipping a magnificent pass into Balotelli. The Italian accelerated away from the inattentive Branislav Ivanovic, took a touch around Cech and rolled the ball home before indulging in an typically arrogant celebration after claiming his eighth goal in his last 10 appearances in the league.

City were enthused by the excellent start and dominated Chelsea with their superior short passing. On one break Aguero showed good strength to hold off Bosingwa, duck inside Ashley Cole and fire a ferocious shot just wide of the post.

Chelsea found themselves under intense pressure and were very fortunate not to concede a penalty after 15 minutes. Balotelli shifted a square pass to David Silva and the Spaniard let the ball roll across his body before being caught by Bosingwa and going to ground. Referee Clattenburg told Silva to get to his feet but also neglected to show a yellow card, presumably indicating he believed some contact was made.

Having been so close to going 2-0 down at home, Chelsea responded and, after Drogba had seen one low effort tipped round the post by Joe Hart, the Blues levelled the scores.

Terry found Daniel Sturridge with a glorious long pass to the right and after taking control the former City trainee jinked one way and then the other to lose Clichy, before dinking in a cross that found Meireles. The Portuguese midfielder volleyed home firmly from eight yards.

Meireles pushed his luck when being booked for a horrible challenge on Pablo Zabaleta and then colliding with Yaya Toure, while the City midfielder had his own on-running and petty battle with Juan Mata as he kicked and then slapped the Spaniard. However, it remained level, and 11-a-side, heading into the break.

Numerical equality was surrendered on 58 minutes though when Clichy was shown his first career red card in 198 Premier League games. Having brought down Sturridge with a clumsy challenge at the start of the second half, he then stuck out a leg to bring down Ramires in full flight and was rightly ordered off the pitch by Clattenburg.

City were suddenly looking ragged, with Vincent Kompany risking a second booking with a clumsy challenge on the increasingly sprightly Mata, and Toure again escaping punishment when attempting to rake his boot down the back of Ramires's leg.

Chelsea enjoyed the greater weight of chances, no more so than when Sturridge expertly chested down a free-kick from the right before thumping his effort over the bar. As the match progressed, Kompany and Lescott were being called upon to repel a constant barrage of crosses.

Mancini responded to Chelsea's pressure by removing the refined talent of Silva and introducing the rather more unreconstructed De Jong in an effort to protect a point, and with it their unbeaten record in the Premier League.

However, the change backfired and on 82 minutes Chelsea were awarded a penalty when Lescott was adjudged to have handled from a Sturridge shot. There appeared to be little intent on the part of the City defender but equally he had the intent to needlessly raise his arms in the box.

Lampard, ushered on as a substitute, hammered the ball down the middle of the goal from 12 yards to spark frenzied celebrations amongst the home players.

City responded by introducing Edin Dzeko for Lescott with four minutes remaining but Mancini could not reverse the tide as his side suffered their first Premier League defeat of the season and left the title race ever so slightly more open.