Haaland helps City see off Chelsea 3-1: Five things we learned | OneFootball

Manchester City ran out winners in a game with huge ramifications for the top-four race. Chelsea took the lead in the third minute but it was level by half time and two second half goals gave City a comfortable victory.

Pep Guardiola faced off against his former assistant Enzo Maresca, and the master defeated his student. Both sides have had struggles of late but still harbour ambitions of qualifying for the Champions League, making this a significant game.

Here are five things we learned:

Debut disaster

Abdukodir Khusanov’s City career got off to a nightmare start. Just three minutes into his debut, the Uzbek centre-back attempted to head the ball back to Ederson but got it all wrong. Nicolas Jackson intercepted the weak back pass and squared it to Noni Madueke for a tap in that put Chelsea 1-0 up. The 20-year-old did not look up to speed and found himself booked after just four minutes, after trying to recover the ball following another under-hit pass. It was the first-ever appearance from an Uzbek in the Premier League and it began catastrophically. Khusanov did start to look more comfortable as the game went on. He made an important block to deny Jadon Sancho in the ninth minute and this seemed to help him settle. Khusanov was withdrawn just before the hour mark.

Chelsea losing ground

With just a single Premier League victory in their last six, Chelsea’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League took another hit today. It was not so long ago that the Blues were surprise contenders in the title race but their form has hit a wall since then. The west London side desperately require an upturn in their form. Having dropped out of the title race, Maresca’s side are now losing ground fast in the race for the top four.

Haaland the match-winner

On his first return to the Etihad since signing a massive nine-and-a-half-year contract extension, Erling Haaland proved decisive. On a day where Mohamed Salah and Alexander Isak both found the net, Haaland reminded everyone why he is the premier goalscorer in the division. He caught Robert Sanchez in no man’s land in the 68th minute and his lofty finish put City 2-1 up. In the second half, Maresca made the decision to leave his defenders one-on-one against Haaland and it cost Chelsea. In the 87th minute, the Norwegian striker held off Levi Colwill with ease and played Phil Foden clean through to secure the win for the home side.

Chalobah continues to impress

Trevor Chalobah was deemed surplus to requirements when Maresca arrived this summer. The defender spent the first half of the season on loan at Crystal Palace, until the Italian coach reversed his decision. Chalobah was called back to Chelsea this month and has put in a couple of solid performances for the Blues. He was Chelsea’s best defender and the Cobham graduate continues to prove Maresca’s earlier decision wrong.

Lively Marmoush

It was not the debut that he would have dreamt of but it was certainly better than Khusanov’s. Omar Marmoush was only announced as a City player on Thursday. After just two training sessions he was handed a starting spot today. The Egyptian looked lively throughout and was a constant threat. Although he failed to secure a goal involvement, it was a promising start to his life in Manchester. Replaced by Kevin De Bruyne in the 74th minute, Marmoush will hope to build on his debut.