Chelsea v Manchester City player ratings: Mateo Kovacic sparkles as Christopher Nkunku flounders
Manchester City were too good for Chelsea on the opening weekend of the season
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Your support makes all the difference.Manchester City comfortably saw off Chelsea in their opening Premier League game of the season at Stamford Bridge.
Erling Haaland and Mateo Kovacic scored the goals as City earned a 2-0 win against Enzo Maresca’s side.
Here is how the players rated:
Chelsea
Robert Sanchez, 5: Couldn’t do much about Haaland’s deft chip from close range, though he might have got closer to Kovacic’s strike.
Malo Gusto, 4: Fouled Jeremy Doku in the first half as he struggled to get to grips the winger. Sloppy on the ball at times.
Wesley Fofana, 4: Dragged out of position in both goals.
Levi Colwill, 5: A player with huge potential wasn’t able to display it here.
Marc Cucurella, 8; Defended excellently against Doku in the opening forays, so much so that Pep Guardiola chose to swap his wingers. Calm on the ball, though he lacked any great threat going forwards. Late injury will be a concern for Chelsea.
Romeo Lavia, 5: Tidy on the ball without ever finding a killer pass to unlock City. Replaced in the second half.
Moises Caicedo, 4: Kovacic ghosted past Caicedo en route to City’s second goal, which capped an underwhelming display.
Christopher Nkunku, 4: Ineffective playing off the left wing and withdrawn inside an hour. Unlikely to impact the team unless he plays more centrally in future.
Enzo Fernandez, 5: Made one or two incisive passes but defensively he was too easy to bypass.
Cole Palmer, 6: Chelsea’s brightest spots generally came through Palmer, but City starved him of possession.
Nicolas Jackson, 5: Should have scored but wandered offside carelessly before tapping in a rebound, and the goal was ruled out.
Subs: Pedro Neto, 5; Marc Guiu, 5; Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, 5; Renato Veiga, 5.
Ederson, 5: Fortunate to get away with a spilled Palmer shot which Jackson tapped home, only for an offside flag to save him. Spilled a cross late in the game but City’s defence bailed him out.
Rico Lewis, 7: Defended well throughout the game, making a strong early tackle on Nkunku and an important late interception in his own six-yard box.
Manuel Akanji, 6: Erred with a poor mistake which almost gifted Chelsea a goal but otherwise tidy enough.
Ruben Dias, 8: Made a couple of crucial last-gasp challenges to protect his team defensively.
Josko Gvardiol, 7: Strong and reliable, but not tested nearly enough for Chelsea’s liking. Made the most interceptions (4) of anyone on the field.
Mateo Kovacic, 9: Probably the best player on the pitch. In Rodri’s absence, Kovacic stepped up to fulfil the role of City’s tempo setter expertly, and his late goal was the cherry on top of an outstanding display.
Kevin De Bruyne, 6: Some neat turns and touches in midfield, but his finishing was off today.
Bernardo Silva, 8: Typically smart and efficient on the ball, and picked up an assist with his touch on to Haaland in the build-up to City’s goal.
Savinho, 5: Bright and sharp in the opening minutes but faded, and he was replaced at half-time by Foden.
Jeremy Doku, 5: Shut down by Cucurella in the opening moments. Doku improved, but when he did break in behind, consistently failed to find a teammate with his cross.
Erling Haaland, 8: Brilliantly taken goal by a brilliant striker, who caused Chelsea defenders constant problems in physical duels. Booked in the second half for an inadvertent scrape on Colwill’s knee.
Subs: Phil Foden, 5.
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