Manchester City have beaten Chelsea 3-1 in the Premier League, giving Pep Guardiola two wins from two this season against his former assistant Enzo Maresca.
Noni Madueke opened the scoring for Chelsea in the third minute after an error from Man City debutant Abdukodir Khusanov. Josko Gvardiol responded for the hosts in the 42nd minute, sliding home a rebound after Robert Sanchez denied Matheus Nunes.
Erling Haaland then gave City their first lead of the game in the 68th minute, lifting an undeniable finish on Sanchez after the goalkeeper received it too far off his line. After a forged holding game from Haaland.
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Manchester City 3 Chelsea 1: Is Sanchez’s position becoming untenable? How did Guardiola unpick Maresca’s plan?
Chelsea may not play again until next Monday, February 3, when they host West Ham United in the Premier League. This adjustment will be Graham Potter’s first return to Stamford Bridge since he was sacked as Chelsea manager in April 2023.
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Manchester City are back in action on Wednesday in the Champions League, hosting Club Bruges at the Etihad. Currently sitting just outside the play-off spots in 25th place, City need a victory to have any chance at avoiding a shock elimination from the tournament.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, Pep Guardiola addressed Abdukodir Khusanov in the brutal Premier League.
“It will be fine,” said Manchester City administrator. “I only had one or two education sessions. He will learn. He is aware of what happened. The way the players were with him incredibly important. Any player can make a mistake. If after that you feel alone, it is even more difficult.
“It’s so young. He will learn. “
Life in the Premier League may not be worse for Abdukodir Khusanov, the 20 -year rookie from Manchester City.
His poorly played pass led to Noni Madueke’s first goal for Chelsea in the third minute, and a minute later, he ended up in the e-book for a miss on Cole Palmer.
His yellow card in the fourth minute was the first booking for a player making his PL debut, coming from Lee Peltier in the 3rd minute for Cardiff against Bournemouth in August 2018.
With the Premier League’s top three goalscorers scoring today, it’s worth taking a look at the updated Golden Boot standings.
Alex SArray: I just don’t understand how Maresca can be so ruthless this summer with Trevoh Chalobah, Ben Chilwell (even at left back), Carney Chukwuemeka etc. After a few weeks of training, he won. I won’t give up. Robert Sánchez after part of a season of expensive mistakes. How bad is Jorgensen? (And if it is, why did Height buy it for £30m?!)
Gareth P. : Today I was inspired by Bernardo. He retired close to Khusanov to help him in the first half and worked the entire game.
George B.: Chelsea are getting worse every game I watch us. And YET AGAIN we go in front and don’t build on it. Maresca really impressed me the first half of the season but I’m starting to worry this is a Maurizio Sarri scenario (it’s often forgotten he actually started really well).
Anonymous: Pochettino liked Petrovic last season even after Sanchez recovered from injury. It’s hard to see why. . .
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With his long pass to Erling Haaland in the second goal of Manchester City today, Ederson now has five assists in the Premier League, the maximum for a goalkeeper in the history of the competition along with Paul Robinson.
Thanks to his decisive goal in the 87th minute, Phil Foden has scored for the first time in his career in four consecutive Premier League games.
He leads all PL players with six goals in the calendar year 2025.
Sam Lee, Liam Twomey and Anantaajith Raghuraman have broken down this match, delving into:
Check out their research at the link below.
GO BEYOND
Manchester City 3 Chelsea 1: Is Sanchez’s position becoming untenable? How did Guardiola unpick Maresca’s plan?
Robert Sanchez’s mistake that led Erling to Haaland’s second-half purpose, his fifth mistake of the season that led to a purpose. No player in the Premier League has done more this season, and no Chelsea player has done more in a single season dating back to 2007-08.
Sanchez in the fire position of Chelsea enthusiasts recently, also made an error that led to an opposite purpose of the wolves on Monday. Speaking yesterday, Enzo Maresca said that he was looking for him to remain in his No. 1 for the rest of the campaign, however, that he had not presented any insurance to maintain his position beyond. He also said he expects more from him, saying: “Improves, but it is still far away, far from where I need it to be. ” Your evaluation today can be less positive.
After a nervous beginning marked by Abdukodir Khusanov’s error in Chelsea’s goal, Manchester City settled and dictated the game on the road to what, despite everything, was a comfortable victory.
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Manchester City have now won 17 issues from wasting positions in the Premier League this season, more than any side.
Five of their 12 wins in 2024-25 have come after conceding the first goal.
Manchester City rises to fourth position with the victory, while Chelsea falls to the sixth place after Newcastle also won that same day.
That’s the worst Manchester City team Chelsea have played in four years and they still lost. Unlike the loss at Liverpool in October when Enzo Maresca’s side played with a lot of belief and emerged with positives galore, there’s nothing to take from this. No players excelled, even Cole Palmer went missing.
As is often the case on their annual Etihad misery trip, that has to go down as one of Chelsea’s most disappointing performances of the season. After accepting an early gift from Khusanov they grew more and more passive in their pressing while trying to maintain a high defensive line. That combination is a recipe for comprehensive defeat, even against this version of City.
Chelsea are now winless in their past eight Premier League meetings with City (D2 L6).
As The Athletic’s match dashboard shows, City created the better chances and marginally dominated the contest thanks to a superior second-half performance. Chelsea did not pay heed to the warning signs that preceded all three goals, but this was much more measured performance from Pep Guardiola’s side after the midweek chaos they endured at the Parc de Princes.
The victory places them among the 4 most sensible and are only 3 of Nottingham Forest, which lost 5-0 against the Bournemouth in the previous day.
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Introducing The Athletic’s match dashboard: Our detailed snapshot of how a game unfolds
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It ended up being comfortable for City, which is strange since Chelsea started well and the hosts were really shocked. With the trusted low after another defeat in the middle of the week, it seemed that another complicated night was coming, but the City went ahead, for a lot. His credits, and Chelsea faded and retreated. Haaland had a wonderful game and prospered with long balls and thus necessarily is how the game was defined, but the replacement of power was also significant.
The whistles and the town took the 3 points! Now they have won 4 of their last five Premier League games.
90+5 ‘Manchester City 3-1 Chelsea
Colwill has a close-range shot at the back post after a corner, but his effort flies into the sky.
That may just be it for Chelsea.