Chelsea v Manchester City LIVE: Premier League result and final score after Mateo Kovacic scores stunner | OneFootball

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Desire to improve, not winning trophies, keeps Guardiola's passion alive

Erling Haaland scored his 91st goal in his 100th appearance for Manchester City on Sunday as the champions kicked off their Premier League title defence with a lively 2-0 away win over Chelsea.

The big Norwegian, fed by Bernardo Silva, forced his way between Marc Cucurella and Wesley Fofana and finished neatly past Robert Sanchez in the 18th minute.

Former Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic made sure of victory for the visitors six minutes from time, racing through a disorganised Chelsea midfield and thumping the ball into Sanchez’s net.

Chelsea, in their first Premier League outing under new manager Enzo Maresca, fashioned some hopeful attacking moves through Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson and recent signing Pedro Neto but were largely outclassed by their more composed visitors.

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The more things change at Chelsea, the more they stay the same

For all the ructions of Chelsea’s summer and the potential for huge upheaval this season, the campaign has started in as predictable a manner as it could have. Erling Haaland scored. Manchester City won 2-0. There was even the little lesson of Mateo Kovacic scoring the clinching goal after beating the two £200m-plus midfielders signed to replace him, with Enzo Fernandez not exactly showing the kind of resolve that would be expected of a captain.

His temporary elevation to that status will bring questions after a summer where he was forced to apologise to teammates after being caught on video chanting racist and homophobic slurs against members of the French team amid Argentina’s Copa America celebrations.

It was almost fitting that the game had two off-field stories before it - or the season - had even started. That came with the Chelsea line-up, which should be less surprising given that the sheer number of players is going to create issues every week.

The more things change at Chelsea, the more they stay the same

Chelsea 0-2 Manchester City: More questions off the field gave way to continuing problems on it for the hosts as Erling Haaland and Mateo Kovacic secured three points for the champions

Chris Wilson18 August 2024 19:15