Manchester City managed to win 2-0 when visiting Chelsea’s headquarters in the opening week of the 2024/25 English Premier League season at Stamford Bridge Stadium, Sunday night (18/8).
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The Citizens’ two winning goals were scored by Erling Haaland in the first half and Mateo Kovacic towards the end of the match.
The result temporarily places the defending champions in fourth place with three points. Meanwhile, Chelsea is in 17th place, as reported by the official English Premier League website.
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Despite playing away from home, City still dominated possession. However, they struggled to penetrate Chelsea’s defense in the first 15 minutes.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 18th minute when Haaland got his name on the scoresheet. Bernardo Silva actually reached for the ball, but failed and it fell at Haaland’s feet.
The Norwegian striker managed to get away from Colwill and Marc Cucurella, before slotting past Robert Sanchez from close range.
VAR reviewed the goal after Bernardo was deemed offside during City’s attack, but it was eventually allowed to stand. The score was 1-0.
It was also Haaland’s 91st goal in 100 games for Manchester City since joining in 2022.
The goal prompted Chelsea to push forward in an attempt to equalise, but they still struggled to break down City’s defence.
Chelsea were able to equalize the score 1-1 in the 45th minute through Jackson although it was eventually disallowed because Nicolas Jackson was in an offside position when he pounced on Cole Palmer’s rebound which was saved by Ederson.
Chelsea had two penalty appeals after Enzo Fernandez and Christopher Nkunku were brought down, but referee Anthony Taylor saw no fouls.
The 1-0 score lasted until halftime.