Erling Haaland and Mateo Kovacic were on target as Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City breezed past Chelsea in their Premier League opener.
Manchester City opened their Premier League title defence with little trouble after sweeping aside Chelsea with a 2-0 away victory on Sunday.
Pep Guardiola’s team are chasing a record-extending fifth consecutive title and opened their 2024-25 campaign with a routine three points at Stamford Bridge, in stark contrast to the remarkable 4-4 draw in this fixture last term.
Erling Haaland chipped past Robert Sanchez with a well-taken opener in the first half of his 100th appearance for City, profiting from Bernardo Silva’s deft offload to send the visitors on their way to victory.
Nicolas Jackson responded for Chelsea by having an equaliser ruled out before the break, with the Blues striker caught offside after Ederson unconvincingly parried from Cole Palmer’s dipping strike.
Jackson again tested Ederson after the interval with a volley from Romeo Lavia’s header, but Mateo Kovacic’s fine individual finish against his former club six minutes from time sealed the win.
Victory saw City – who also had a Rico Lewis goal disallowed – join seven other teams on three points, while Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea are just one place above the bottom three after his first match at the helm.
