Haaland and Kovacic see City past Chelsea
Manchester City opened its Premier League title defence with little trouble after sweeping aside Chelsea with a 2-0 away victory at Stamford Bridge.
Pep Guardiola's team is chasing a record-extending fifth consecutive title and opened its 2024-2025 campaign with a routine three points in west London, 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, which also had a Rico Lewis goal disallowed, join seven other teams on three points, while Enzo Maresca's Chelsea is just one place off the bottom three after his first match at the helm.
Haaland has been directly involved in 106 goals in 100 appearances for City, and the Norway talisman has enjoyed the opening fixture in this competition as well.
The 24-year-old became the first City player to score on matchday one in three consecutive Premier League seasons, after David Silva (2013-2014, 2014-2015 and 2015-2016).
He has also scored 13 times across his nine Premier League appearances in August, two more than Chelsea has managed as a team since the start of the 2022-2023 season.
Chelsea, meanwhile, is winless in its past seven league meetings with Man City (drawn two, lost five), since a 2-1 away win in May 2021, and will have to recover before its next top-flight trip to Wolverhampton Wanderers next weekend.
