Joleon Lescott has said that Manchester City considered Chelsea's post-match attitude a mark of respect after the Blues beat them on Monday night.
Roberto Mancini's side currently lead the league by two points, despite suffering their first league defeat of the season at Stamford Bridge.
While the London club are now seven points adrift of the Citizens, Lescott believes that their celebrations show just how far the Manchester outfit have come.
"If teams like Chelsea are seeing us as a big scalp then it can only be good for us," he told The Mirror. "We took it as a compliment – not as a sign of disrespect.
"We saw them go into a huddle [of celebration] on the pitch at the end and we had heard their manager say that if they didn't win then their title hopes were over.
"That's not the case now, but we're still top of the league and that's where we intend to stay."
The league leaders will look to bounce back when Arsenal travel to the Etihad Stadium this weekend.
