Two weeks after their first Premier League game and the official debut of new head coach Enzo Maresca, Chelsea were again in a bad mood in midfield and defence, losing 4-0 to Manchester City before coming back from a two-goal deficit in the build-up to Saturday’s match. Seasonally friendly. Columbus, Ohio.
Oh, and who will they face on opening day?These same four times reigning and reigning PL champions.
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Erling Haaland had Manchester City 2-0 up before the clock hit 5:00, when he switched from the penalty spot (he also won the penalty) in the 4th minute and forced his way through the Chelsea defense to beat Robert Sánchez. in the 5th. minute. Haaland’s second goal was the first of three direct effects when Chelsea gave the ball away unnecessarily in their own half.
It was their fault in the 55th minute, when Oscar Bobb left alone after a poor gift, and a minute later it was Haaland who took advantage. The only positive for Chelsea is some more damaging functionality from winger Noni Madueke off the bench. The 22-year-old set up Raheem Sterling for Chelsea’s first goal in the 59th minute and scored himself in the 89th.
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Below you will find line-ups, video highlights and live updates from the Chelsea vs Manchester City pre-season friendly in Columbus.
That’s two goals in two games for Noni Madueke, who led Manchester City’s defence and put in a fantastic ball from Romeo Lavia throughout. The 22-year-old winger is defending strongly in the opening minutes in two weeks.
It must be said that Noni Madueke has been fantastic since coming on at half-time (just like on Chelsea’s tour of the United States), taking advantage of the right attacking channel to enter the box and send the ball across the goal. what he did to set up Raheem Sterling for a comfort goal.
This time it is Malo Gusto who is not on the same page as his Chelsea teammates. A few quick passes later, Haaland is alone to complete his hat-trick.
Chelsea still can’t get out of their way.
Chelsea are still unable to hand the ball to their warring parties on a silver platter and Manchester City are missing six players from their imperious defensive unit, so it’s no surprise that both groups had a handful of chances to score in the first half.
More Keystone Cops behind Chelsea, while Moises Caicedo doesn’t pass the ball to anyone in particular, straight towards his own goal. Erling Haaland was the first to react, ran towards the goal and beat Robert Sanchez again.
It was not entirely clear whether Levi Colwill had even touched Haaland before the big Norwegian fell to the ground inside the penalty area, but the referee pointed to the spot and stood by his ruling.
Still, unlike Celtic, Chelsea continue to struggle to get the ball out of their own defensive third, let alone the attacking component of the pitch.
Ortega – Lewis, Phillips, Gvardiol, Wilson-Esbrand – O’Reilly, Kovacic, MaAtee – Bobb, Grealish, Haaland
Substitutes: Ederson, Carson, Doyle, Katongo, Simpson-Pusey, Samuel, Mbete-Tabu, Mfuni, Gálvez, Wright, Suosho, Perrone, Fatah, Knight, Heskey, Ndala, Oboavwoduo, Hamilton
Sanchez – James, Adarabioyo, Colwill, Gusto – Caicedo, Lavia, Fernandez – Dewsbury-Hall, Mudryk, Nkunku
Substitutes: Jorgensen, Bettinelli, Chilwell, Acheampong, Fofana, Chukwuemeka, Ugochukwu, Veiga, Gabriel, Broja, Guiu, Madueke, Sterling
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