Manchester City began their pursuit of a fifth consecutive Premier League title with a comfortable 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge to ruin Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca’s first game in charge.
Erling Haaland scored for the third season in a row on the opening weekend to hand the champions the lead in the first half, finishing smartly after a clever touch from Bernardo Silva to create the chance.
After seemingly making progress in the second half of last season under former boss Mauricio Pochettino, there was a feeling that Chelsea were beginning again from scratch under Maresca, whose side rarely threatened despite spending more than £160million so far this transfer window.
Man City begin their Premier League title defence with a win 💫#CHEMCI | #TheKickOff pic.twitter.com/zj39M1xMhl
— Premier League (@premierleague) August 18, 2024
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Mateo Kovacic, returning to face the club where he made 221 appearances during a five-year spell, netted a second for City late on as home fans began to leave the ground carrying familiar frustrations.
The champions had taken the lead after 18 minutes. Jeremy Doku, starting the game on the right wing, had struggled to get beyond the impressive Marc Cucurella, but after switching sides he was able to cut in on his right foot and play a pass centrally that got the faintest touch along its way from Silva.
It was sufficient to divert the ball from Levi Colwill and to the feet of Haaland and, with the defender bypassed, the City striker barrelled through an ineffective challenge from Cucurella and adjusted his body and clipped his finish low beyond Robert Sanchez.
HE'S BACK!!! 👊
🔵 0-1 🩵 #ManCity pic.twitter.com/3cU8b5aqBs— Manchester City (@ManCity) August 18, 2024
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It was nearly 2-0 moments later when Savinho, making his Premier League debut, fed Kevin De Bruyne, who opened his right foot and curled narrowly wide from the edge of the box.
Home supporters sung the name of Conor Gallagher, who was not in the squad and training separately from the first team after a move to Atletico Madrid stalled last week.
Chelsea, without the urgency provided by last season’s stand-in captain, looked ponderous and slow in possession, whilst Enzo Fernandez, moved higher up the pitch to take Gallagher’s usual place, was rarely involved in the first half.
Sanchez produced an outstanding one-handed save to claw away a bullet Doku drive that spun wickedly off Wesley Fofana, then later cleared away a less taxing effort from Silva with his boot.
Cole Palmer had endured a quiet first half on Chelsea’s right but, cutting inside and making space to shoot, forced Ederson into a save in the 45th minute. Nicolas Jackson tapped in on the rebound, but was rightly flagged offside.
The half ended with Christopher Nkunku calling in vain for a penalty after going down easily inside the box, the third such time referee Anthony Taylor had waived away Chelsea appeals. They had, to this stage, offered little else in attack.
The second period started with renewed City pressure. Haaland drew a fine low stop from Sanchez after the ball deflected to him inside the box as the visitors threatened the second goal their play deserved.
Jackson ought to have done better when latching on to Romeo Lavia’s header six yards out, but flicked his effort straight at Ederson who threw up a strong hand.
Pedro Neto, on for his Chelsea debut, was also thwarted by City’s goalkeeper. It was better from Chelsea, but only barely.
A meek display was summed up six minutes from time, Kovacic jogging past Fernandez and Moises Caicedo with minimal resistance and scoring with a shot that Sanchez allowed to squeeze in via a weak right hand.
