Chelsea v Manchester City LIVE: Premier League result and final score after Mateo Kovacic scores stunner
Man City began their title defence with a confident victory at Stamford Bridge against Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea side
Erling Haaland scored his 91st goal in his 100th appearance for Manchester City on Sunday 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.
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.
Chelsea, in their first Premier League outing under new manager Enzo Maresca, fashioned some hopeful attacking moves through Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson and recent signing Pedro Neto but were largely outclassed by their more composed visitors.
Chelsea 0-0 Man City
10 mins
A quick counter from Chelsea ends with Gusto playing in an early cross that Gvardiol does well to dive in and put out for a corner. Palmer swings in an inviting cross, but Fofana can only volley it wide.
Chelsea 0-0 Man City
8 mins
Some nice touches from Savinho take him past Cole Palmer before he slots a pass into the path of Bernardo. The Portuguese’s cross is put behind for a corner, and City concede a foul when the ball is delivered in.
Chelsea 0-0 Man City
6 mins
Chelsea have their first real attack but Rico Lewis extinguishes it after tackling Nkunku on the edge of the box. Chelsea win back possession after a sloppy pass in midfield from City, but neither side is in a rush to commit numbers forward at the moment.
Chelsea 0-0 Man City
4 mins
Savinho’s first involvement sees a deflected cross land in the gloves of Sanchez. Moments later, Doku clips a cross towards the back post that just flies out behind the goal. Poor from the Belgian after good work from Haaland to win possession.
Chelsea 0-0 Man City
2 mins
Rico Lewis’ first foray forward ends with the young full-back finding the side netting with a cross. Chelsea not out of their half yet.
KICK-OFF! Chelsea vs Man City
1 min
The away side get us started at Stamford Bridge! City take their first steps in the hunt for five in a row.
Chelsea vs Man City LIVE
The two teams are coming out of the tunnel now, with both sides looking focused today.
Plenty of underlying story lines before kick-off today, from the omission of Sterling to the choice of Enzo Fernandez as captain.
Another story is Erling Haaland – this is his 100th appearance in a City shirt, and he’s scored NINETY goals.
Chelsea vs Man City LIVE
We’re five minutes away from kick-off at Stamford Bridge. Will Pep Guardiola’s side do their usual business, or will Enzo Maresca’s young side provide an opening week surprise in the Premier League?
We’ll find out soon.
Head-to-head
A reminder of the head-to-head between these two teams – Chelsea have won 77, with City winning 66 and 41 ending as draws.
The two teams drew in both their league meetings last season, playing out one of the matches of the season as Stamford Bridge as they drew 4-4. They also met in the FA Cup semi-final, with City running out 1-0 winners.
The most famous match between the two came in the Champions League final in May 2021, where Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea won their second trophy courtesy of a Kai Havertz goal.
That final was the last time Chelsea beat City in any competition – Chelsea are winless in their last six Premier League meetings with Manchester City (D2 L4), since a 2-1 away win in May 2021.
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