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Chelsea 0 – 2 Manchester City

VaselineAugust 18, 2024

0 3 minutes read

Enzo Maresca lost his first Premier League match as Chelsea manager, as Manchester City beat the club 2-0 at Stamford Bridge to begin their latest title defence in style.

Man City’s superior quality and game management ultimately won the battle between Pep Guardiola and another coach who had previously been under his care.

It took just 18 minutes for back-to-back Premier League Golden Boot winner Erling Haaland to open his account for the new season, collecting a pass from Bernardo Silva – who survived a VAR check for offside – before bulldozing past the Chelsea defence to fire home his 91st Man City goal in his 100th club appearance.

The Blues thought they had equalised just before half-time. Ederson unusually put Cole Palmer’s shot through, while a lurking Nicolas Jackson fired home the rebound. However, VAR intervened and the goal was disallowed for Jackson’s offside.

The second half saw both sides trade blows and chances, with impressive debutant Pedro Neto giving Chelsea a spark. In the 65th minute, Man City thought they had another when Rico Lewis slammed home, but a foul by Erling Haaland on Levi Colwill in the run-up to the goal saw it disallowed.

Another Chelsea penalty appeal went unanswered shortly afterwards when Malo Gusto’s attempt to play the ball back into the penalty area struck Mateo Kovacic’s elbow. And the former Chelsea midfielder showed his former team what they were missing when he doubled their lead in the 84th minute.

After another loose pass from Chelsea in midfield, Kovacic cruised to the top of the penalty area before firing past a worthy Robert Sanchez. The Croatian didn’t celebrate against his former team, but helped his current side to all three points, extending Man City’s unbeaten run to 24 Premier League games.

Sterling ‘gets clarity’ on Chelsea future

Raheem Sterling was left out of Chelsea’s matchday squad and in a statement said he wants more clarity over his future at the club.

It read: “Raheem Sterling has signed a contract with Chelsea Football Club for the next 3 years.

“He returned to England two weeks earlier to undertake individual training and has had a positive pre-season under the new coach, with whom he has built up a good working relationship.

“He is, as always, committed to performing at the highest level for Chelsea and the fans, who he holds in high regard. Given his mention in official club material ahead of this week’s match, we expected Raheem to be involved in some way in this weekend’s game.

“As a training camp, we have always had a positive conversation with Chelsea and received assurances from them regarding Raheem’s future at the club. We are therefore looking forward to getting clarity on the situation.

“Until then, we will continue to support Raheem’s desire to start the new season on a positive note.”

From Chelsea’s perspective, it was a technical decision by Enzo Maresca, with the club’s full support, to leave Sterling out of the squad, a decision that was communicated to the winger on Friday.

And speaking to Sky Sport Before the match, Maresca said: “The manager has to make decisions that people and players don’t like – that’s normal. We’ll see in the next few days.”