LONDON: Manchester City got their Premier League title defence off to a winning start as goals from Erling Haaland and Mateo Kovacic inflicted a 2-0 defeat on Enzo Maresca in his first match in charge of Chelsea.

Haaland marked his 100th appearance for the club with his 91st goal before Kovacic struck on his return to Stamford Bridge to give Pep Guardiola’s men the perfect start to their attempt to win a record fifth consecutive English top-flight title.

City were shorn of all four of their Euro 2024 finalists — Rodri, Kyle Walker, John Stones and Phil Foden — from the start as Guardiola opted to give them extra time off to recover from their summer exertions.

Yet, the champions were still able to lay down a marker against one of the few sides they failed to beat in the league last season.

Maresca has the tough task of moulding a functioning team unit from a bloated Chelsea squad that has 43 players and over 50 on the books including those on loan.

The consequences of those difficult decisions played out even before kick-off as Raheem Sterling’s camp released a statement expressing his dismay at being left out of the matchday squad.

Ben Chilwell was another to face the cull, while Conor Gallagher and Romelu Lukaku are among those not to have been handed squad numbers.

None of Chelsea’s nine summer signings to date were included in Maresca’s starting line-up.

Even more surprisingly, Enzo Fernandez was named captain despite being embroiled in a race row for a post on social media after Argentina’s Copa America victory last month.

City, by contrast, are a model of continuity and consistent excellence.

Haaland was one of City’s few stars to have had a summer off from international tournaments and took just 18 minutes to make his mark.

Jeremy Doku’s low cross was deflected by Bernardo Silva into the Norwegian’s path and he coolly dinked over Robert Sanchez.

Kevin De Bruyne curled inches wide and Sanchez leapt high to turn over Doku’s deflected shot.

But Chelsea ended the first half in the ascendancy and should have been level before the break.

Ederson spilt Cole Palmer’s tame shot but was bailed out by Nicolas Jackson’s straying needlessly offside before he turned in the rebound.

Foden was forced into action earlier than Guardiola would have hoped at half-time as the lively Savinho was forced off injured on his Premier League debut.

The lack of pre-season minutes for many on show was apparent in the more pedestrian pace than normal for a major Premier League clash.

Chelsea did most of the pressing for an equaliser but offered City chances to extend their lead in doing so.

Sanchez made a fine save to deny Haaland a second before De Bruyne again fired inches off target when unmarked at the edge of the area.

However, the Chelsea goalkeeper was at fault for the goal that sealed their fate.

Kovacic was allowed to burst through the midfield unchallenged and took aim for the top corner, which he found thanks to a weak hand from Sanchez.

Earlier on Sunday, Brentford got their Premier League season off to a flying start with a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace.

Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa got the goals for the Bees, who had left out England international Ivan Toney due to other clubs’ interest, his manager Thomas Frank said.

Frank said the decision to leave Toney out was made on Thursday.

“It’s part of the game we have to play, we don’t want to give too much away,” he told reporters with a smile.

In Saturday’s late match, Aston Villa spoiled Julen Lopetegui’s first game in charge of West Ham United with a 2-1 win at the London Stadium.

Villa, who finished fourth last season, took the lead through Amadou Onana’s fourth minute goal.

Although Lucas Paqueta equalised with a 37th minute penalty, Jhon Duran stole the points with a clinical finish in the 79th minute.

Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2024