Manchester City claimed their first victory of their pre-season tour on Saturday after cruising to a 4-2 win over Premier League opponents Chelsea.
City were finally able to put an end to their pre-season loses when they travelled to the Ohio Stadium to face the Blues. New Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has claimed just one victory from four friendly fixtures so far, drawing with League One side Wrexham and suffering defeats at the hands of both City and Celtic.
Maresca will hope to rewrite the tumultuous start to his Chelsea career when he welcomes back the likes of Cole Palmer and Marc Cucurella ahead of the upcoming season – who are still missing from the squad after reaching the Euro 2024 final in Germany.
Erling Haaland dominated the scoresheet on Saturday, while Raheem Sterling and Noni Madueke netted for the Blues – here are the three things we learned from the City triumph.
Haaland, the Norwegian goal scoring machine, remains a constant reliable threat in City’s attack. He fired three goals into the back of Robert Sanchez’s net, making it impossible for defenders to block his path.
A summer reset seemed to be just the trick for Haaland, as the 24-year-old literally scored twice in the first five minutes to silence Chelsea before they even had chance to implement Maresca’s tactics.
He’s in midseason form before the campaign has even begun, and if Saturday was anything to go by, Haaland may be one of the most feared players in the league once again.
Chelsea were able to deploy almost their first-team to face City, but still crumbled under the pressure of the Premier League champions.
It seems Maresca has some serious work to do if he’s going to turn this team into a serious outfit, rather than the masters of their own downfall. Against City, Chelsea found themselves in dangerous situations, conceding goals whilst playing out from the back.
Mistakes were made – Tosin Adarabioyo allowed the ball to fall to Jack Grealish which led to Haaland’s penalty, while Moises Caicedo lost possession to allow the striker his second goal. Hopefully these are just teething errors, but the Blues’ performances so far may be setting off alarm bells for Maresca.
City will be incredibly thankful for their season opener against Chelsea, if Saturday was anything to go…
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