Premier League defending champions, Manchester City, have opened their latest League title defence with win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in Enzo Mareca’s debut match as manager on Sunday.
Manchester City, chasing their sixth Premier League title in a row, hardly ever came out of second gear when playing Chelsea, a team that spent a lot of money on summer signings but had no new players in their starting lineup.
Despite neither team having an impressive start to the match, City's sense of certain victory soon paid off as Haaland, in the eighteenth minute, beat Sánchez by holding off a couple of defenders and using a flick from Bernardo.
The goal, which solely benefited the visitors, had little effect on the game's tempo. De Bruyne nearly scored against the blues with one of his typical long-range attempts, and Sánchez made a fantastic save on a deflected shot just after the half-hour mark.
In the last five to ten minutes of the half, Chelsea began to look dangerous and even had the ball in the net, but Jackson had sloppily gone offside on Palmer's opening shot and needed a little more concentration at that particular time.
Up until Pedro Neto's introduction at the hour mark, the second half played out largely in the same way, with Chelsea coming dangerously close twice in quick succession. Further changes would arrive, but we would fail to find the necessary breakthrough.
City’s last five minutes from stoppage time settled the contest: Mateo Kovačić intercepting a poor ball out, running easily through midfield and not getting closed down, securing a 0-2 victory for city.
