On Sunday, Manchester City’s stand-ins contributed to the defending champions’ 2-0 victory over Chelsea under new coach Enzo Maresca, proving that Pep Guardiola’s decision to give many of the club’s star players more time to recover from Euro 2024 paid off.
At Stamford Bridge, England’s stalwarts Kyle Walker, John Stones, and Phil Foden were on the bench. Spain’s Rodri was out of the squad entirely as he recovers from an injury sustained in Germany.
After Erling Haaland, fresh from a summer off, scored in the 18th minute, Mateo Kovacic, Rodri’s assistant, scored City’s second goal in the 84th minute. Savinho, a winger, and right back Rico Lewis both tormented Chelsea.
It was unexpected to us. The good news is that we are still far from our best, so three points. It is an honor for me to lead these people. When asked about the players who stepped up, Guardiola stated, “I’m so fortunate, I could not say more.”
He thanked Kovacic for taking over for Rodri, whose absences last season coincided with City’s three league defeats. “He is a first-rate individual, and his mother and father gave [us] an incredible human being. Top.” City are aiming to win the Premier League for the fifth time, making history by winning the last four games in a row.
However, the club denies allegations that they have broken financial rules, so they could be punished. Chelsea started with Spain’s Marc Cucurella and England’s Cole Palmer, both of whom participated in the tournament’s July 14 final in Berlin, in contrast to City’s decision to rest their Euro stars.
The Blues displayed glimpses of the style that the club’s US owners, who have spent a lot of money and have hired four different managers since they bought Chelsea in 2022, hope will bring success back to west London.
But before Kovacic won the game, Maresca’s team was largely reduced to unlikely penalty appeals and a failed attempt by Nicolas Jackson. City’s defense mostly kept Palmer, Chelsea’s runaway top scorer with 22 goals, quiet, and new signings Pedro Neto and Marc Guiu couldn’t break through the visitors’ defense.
Maresca said that he saw progress and pointed to some small margins in the game. City won a narrow offside decision for Haaland’s first goal, and Nicolas Jackson was found to have been offside when he scored what would have been an equalizer.
The Italian stated, “We competed for large portions of the game.” We performed even better at times. We made opportunities. “And I believe the most significant difference between us and them today was, especially, inside the box and how they managed the ball in the game’s final period.”
Leave a Reply