Manchester City start defence with win over Chelsea

LONDON, August 18

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Erling Haaland scored his 91st goal in his 100th appearance for Manchester City 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.

“I knew exactly what to do, I think it was a really good goal. I remember last year he made a really good save against me, it had been irritating me for a long time so, yeah, it was a perfect goal,” Haaland said.

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. City, seeking a fifth title in a row, were more composed and comfortable on the ball than Chelsea and always looked in control. Sanchez was kept busy in the Chelsea goal, saving from Haaland and Jeremy Doku, while Rico Lewis proved a constant worry, moving upfield.

Chelsea, in their first Premier League outing under new manager Enzo Maresca, fashioned some hopeful attacking moves, a timely Ruben Dias intervention denying Nicolas Jackson in the 14th minute. Jackson also had the ball in the net before being ruled offside late in the first half, while former City forward Cole Palmer forced a couple of regulation saves from Ederson and recent signing Pedro Neto looked busy when he came on as a second-half substitute. But it was clear Maresca, who worked alongside Pep Guardiola at City for a season before leading Leicester City to Premier League promotion last May, has work to do with his plentiful squad.

Youngsters star for Barca

Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski said he was proud of his team’s performance in a 2-1 comeback win at Valencia in their LaLiga season opener, and he praised his side’s youngsters who started in place of several injured players. With Ilkay Gundogan, Pedri, Gavi, Ronald Araujo and Frenkie De Jong all out, new manager Hansi Flick gave 20-year-old academy midfielder Marc Casado his senior debut, playing alongside three 17-year-olds in Lamine Yamal, Pau Cubarsi and Marc Bernal. — Reuters