Despite playing with great effort and proactive ball control like their opponents, Chelsea still could not cause a surprise in welcoming the defending champions in the opening round of the 2024/25 Premier League.
Final result Chelsea vs Man City (0-2)
Goals: Haaland 18′; Kovacic 84′
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In his first match leading Chelsea in the Premier League, new coach Enzo Maresca used all the old faces (with at least one season playing for the team) even though he brought in nearly a dozen new players who were of course selected based on the style and way of playing he wanted to build. The “strangest” name on the starting list was probably Romeo Lavia, a midfielder who only played less than 1 half last season, mainly due to injury.
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As for Man City, the “king” of England made some adjustments compared to the Community Shield match a week ago when two senior strikers, Bernando Silva and Kevin De Bruyne, returned to the starting lineup but Phil Foden remained on the bench. In addition to the injury of Oscar Bobb, the new recruit brought in from Girona, Savinho soon made his Premier League debut as a winger with Doku supporting “super striker” Erling Haaland.
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Of course, Man City played more coherently, but they also appeared relatively cautious when only applying moderate pressure and slow speed of the ball towards the home team’s goal.
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However, it was only in the 18th minute that the “ruler” of English football with 4 consecutive national championships found the opening goal thanks to a familiar face. After switching wings with Savinho, Doku created a breakthrough with a low pass into the middle from the left wing. Bernando Silva missed the ball but Haaland appeared behind, controlled the ball firmly and finally defeated Robert Sanchez in a face-to-face situation. Chelsea’s defense appeared quite lax in this situation and the price to pay was worth it.
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The game became visibly more exciting after the opening goal when Chelsea was forced to accept playing more adventurously even though they knew it was very risky because the opponent was too classy and they were still in the early stages of a new dynasty.
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In the 37th minute, Doku handled the ball bravely before swinging his foot to shoot from near the 16m50 line. The ball’s path was even more difficult to see as it grazed Fofana, but goalkeeper Robert Sanchez jumped spectacularly to save Chelsea from a certain goal.
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In the 44th minute, Nicolas Jackson put the ball into the Man City net but the linesman raised his flag for offside. Despite being behind, it must be admitted that Chelsea had a good first half, completely on par with the visitors.
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Entering the second half, Chelsea continued to make relentless efforts to turn the situation around but were unsuccessful against the stubbornness and class of the defending champions.
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In the 65th minute, Rico Lewis put the ball into Robert Sanchez’s net, but the referee team determined that Haaland had committed a foul before, so there was no goal for Man City.
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But then the visitors scored another goal to decide the game. In the 84th minute, Mateo Kovacic intercepted a pass from a Chelsea defender and decided to make a breakthrough in the middle of the field, approaching the 16m50 line before unleashing a quality shot, defeating Robert Sanchez. The Croatian midfielder did not seem too happy after scoring, as a mark of respect for his former team.
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2-0 was also the final result of the match. Chelsea could not cause a surprise against the defending champion Man City, but at least they showed a relatively bright face after only about 2 months of working with a new coach.
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