Enzo Maresca misplaced his first Premier League sport answerable for Chelsea as Manchester Metropolis beat them 2-0 at Stamford Bridge, starting their newest title defence in type.
Man Metropolis’s superior high quality and sport administration finally gained out in a battle between Pep Guardiola and one other coach previously beneath his tutelage.
It took simply 18 minutes for back-to-back Premier League Golden Boot winner Erling Haaland to open his account for the brand new season. He collected a cross from Bernardo Silva – who survived a VAR test for offside – earlier than bulldozing previous the Chelsea defence and firing house his 91st Man Metropolis objective on his one hundredth membership look.
The Blues thought that they had equalised simply earlier than the break. Ederson uncharacteristically spilled Cole Palmer’s shot, with a lurking Nicolas Jackson netting the rebound. Nonetheless, VAR intervened and the objective was dominated out for Jackson’s offside.
The second half noticed each side commerce blows and probabilities as spectacular debutant Pedro Neto offered a spark for Chelsea. Within the sixty fifth minute, Man Metropolis thought that they had added one other as Rico Lewis smashed house, however a foul from Erling Haaland on Levi Colwill within the build-up dominated the objective out.
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Former Chelsea man Mateo Kovacic coolly sends the ball down the center, previous Sanchez and into the again of the online to increase Manchester Metropolis’s lead
One other Chelsea penalty enchantment went unanswered quickly after as Malo Gusto’s try to ship the ball again into the realm hit Mateo Kovacic’s elbow. And the previous Chelsea midfielder confirmed his former aspect what they have been lacking when he doubled their lead within the 84th minute.
After one other unfastened Chelsea midfield cross, Kovacic cruised to the highest of the realm earlier than firing previous Robert Sanchez, who for his half ought to have carried out higher. The Croatian didn’t rejoice towards his former aspect, however helped his present one to all three factors, extending Man Metropolis’s unbeaten run to 24 Premier League video games.
Sterling ‘gaining readability’ on future at Chelsea
Raheem Sterling was neglected of Chelsea matchday squad, and in a press release, stated he’s in search of additional readability on his future on the membership.
It learn: “Raheem Sterling is contracted to Chelsea Football Club for the next 3 years.
“He returned to England 2 weeks early to conduct particular person coaching, and has had a optimistic pre-season beneath the brand new coach, who he has developed working relationship with.
“He’s dedicated, as ever, to delivering on the highest stage for Chelsea and the followers, who he holds in excessive regard, and given his inclusion in official membership pre-match materials this week, our expectation was that Raheem could be concerned on this weekend’s fixture in some capability.
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Enzo Maresca defends his determination to omit Raheem Sterling from the beginning Chelsea line-up forward of their Manchester Metropolis conflict, saying it’s purely a ‘technical determination’.
“As a camp, we have always had positive dialogue with, and assurance from, Chelsea in relation to Raheem’s future at the club, so we look forward to gaining clarity on the situation.
“Till then, we are going to proceed to help Raheem’s need to begin the brand new season positively.”
From Chelsea’s perspective, it was a technical decision made by Enzo Maresca with full club support to leave Sterling out and that decision was communicated to the winger on Friday.
And speaking to Sky Sports before the game, Maresca said: “The supervisor has to take choices that individuals and gamers would not like – it is regular. We are going to see within the subsequent days.”
