Joe McConnell
Enzo Maresca lost his first Premier League game in charge of Chelsea, who were defeated 2-0 by Manchester City at Stamford Bridge, starting their latest title defence in style.
Manchester City’s superior quality and game management ultimately prevailed in the battle between Pep Guardiola and another manager who was once under his tutelage.
It took back-to-back Premier League Golden Boot winner Erling Haaland just 18 minutes to open his account for the new season. He received a pass from Bernardo Silva, who survived a VAR check for offside, before bursting through the Chelsea defence to score his 91st Man City goal on his 100th appearance for the club.
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Erling Haaland shows immense strength in holding off the Chelsea defence and scoring his first Premier League goal of the season, giving Manchester City the lead
The Blues thought they had equalised just before half-time. Ederson, uncharacteristically, parried Cole Palmer’s shot, with a lurking Nicolas Jackson scoring the rebound. However, VAR intervened and the goal was ruled out for Jackson being offside.
The second half saw both teams trade blows and chances, with impressive debutant Pedro Neto providing Chelsea with a spark. Manchester City thought they had added another in the 65th minute when Rico Lewis scored in quick succession, but a foul by Erling Haaland on Levi Colwill in the build-up phase cancelled out the goal.
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Former Chelsea player Mateo Kovacic coolly sends the ball down the middle, past Sanchez and into the back of the net to extend Manchester City’s lead
Another Chelsea penalty appeal went unanswered shortly after, when Malo Gusto’s attempt to clear the ball into the box hit Mateo Kovacic’s elbow. And the former Chelsea midfielder showed his former club what they were missing when he doubled their lead in the 84th minute.
After another weak pass in Chelsea’s midfield, Kovacic raced to the top of the box before shooting past Robert Sanchez, who could have done better himself. The Croatian didn’t celebrate against his former club, but he helped his current club secure all three points, extending Man City’s unbeaten run to 24 Premier League games.
Sterling ‘is coming to terms’ with his Chelsea future
Raheem Sterling has been left out of the squad for the Chelsea match and, in a statement, said he was seeking further clarity over his future at the club.
It reads: “Raheem Sterling has a contract with Chelsea Football Club for the next 3 years.
“He returned to England two weeks early for individual training and has had a positive pre-season with his new manager, with whom he has developed a good working relationship.
“He is committed, as ever, to giving his all for Chelsea and the fans, whom he holds in high regard, and given his presence in the club’s official pre-match material this week, we expected Raheem to be involved in some way in this weekend’s game.
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Enzo Maresca defends his decision to leave Raheem Sterling out of Chelsea’s starting lineup for their clash with Manchester City, saying it was a ‘purely technical decision’.
“As a team, we have always had positive dialogue and reassurances from Chelsea regarding Raheem’s future at the club, so we look forward to clarifying the situation.
“Until then, we will continue to support Raheem’s desire to start the new season on a positive note.”
From Chelsea’s point of view, it was a technical decision taken by Enzo Maresca with the full support of the club to exclude Sterling and that decision was communicated to the winger on Friday.
And speaking with Vscek Before the match, Maresca said: “The manager has to make decisions that people and players don’t like, it’s normal. We’ll see in the next few days.”
