City fire ‘quite scary’ title warning; new Chelsea coach axes big-name stars in statement: EPL Wrap

Pep Guardiola praised Manchester City’s attitude to defy a disrupted pre-season and get their Premier League title defence off to a winning start by beating Chelsea 2-0. Read the full wrap.

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 18: Erling Haaland of Manchester City celebrates scoring the opening goal with Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva during the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Manchester City FC at Stamford Bridge on August 18, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

Pep Guardiola praised Manchester City’s attitude to defy a disrupted pre-season and get their Premier League title defence off to a winning start by beating Chelsea 2-0.

Goals from Erling Haaland and Mateo Kovacic inflicted defeat on Enzo Maresca in his first match in charge of the Blues.

City were shorn of all four of their Euro 2024 finalists -- Rodri, Kyle Waker, John Stones and Phil Foden -- from the start as Guardiola opted to give them extra time off to recover from their summer exertions.

“When you think about the players Manchester City don’t have on the pitch, it’s quite scary,” Gary Neville said on Sky Sports.

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Manchester City won 2-0. Picture: Julian Finney/Getty Images

The likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias and Manuel Akanji did play the 90 minutes despite their late return to training after reaching the knockout stages of the Euros.

Yet, the champions were still able to lay down a marker against one of the few sides they failed to beat in the league last season.

“I really didn’t expect it. I know what these guys can do, but the first day and lack of training,” said Guardiola.

“We had two or three days to prepare, but we solved this lack of many things with our commitment.

“You cannot imagine how privileged and fortunate I am to live these experiences with this incredible group of players.”

Maresca has the tough task of moulding a functioning team unit from a bloated Chelsea squad that has 43 players and over 50 on the books including those on loan.

The consequences of those difficult decisions played out even before kick-off as Raheem Sterling’s camp released a statement expressing his dismay at being left out of the matchday squad.

Ben Chilwell was another to face the cull, while Conor Gallagher and Romelu Lukaku are among those not to have been handed squad numbers.

None of Chelsea’s nine summer signings to date were included in Maresca’s starting line-up.

Even more surprisingly, Enzo Fernandez was named captain despite being embroiled in a race row for a post on social media after Argentina’s Copa America victory last month.

City, by contrast, are a model of continuity and consistent excellence. Haaland was one of City’s few stars to have had a summer off from international tournaments and took just 18 minutes to make his mark.

Jeremy Doku’s low cross was deflected by Bernardo Silva into the Norwegian’s path and he coolly dinked over Robert Sanchez.

But Chelsea ended the first half in the ascendancy and should have been level before the break.

Ederson spilled Cole Palmer’s tame shot but was bailed out by Nicolas Jackson’s straying needlessly offside before he turned in the rebound.

Foden was forced into action earlier than Guardiola would have hoped at half-time as the lively Savinho was forced off injured on his Premier League debut.

The lack of pre-season minutes for many on show was apparent in the more pedestrian pace than normal for a major Premier League clash.

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Todd Boehly, owner of Chelsea, watches on. Picture: Julian Finney/Getty Images

Chelsea did most of the pressing for an equaliser but offered City chances to extend their lead in doing so.

“I think we competed very well for much of the game. We were similar if not better,” said Maresca.

“The performance was there but we didn’t take the chances. Probably the big difference was inside the box.”

Sanchez made a fine save to deny Haaland a second goal but the Chelsea goalkeeper was at fault for the strike that sealed their fate.

Kovacic was allowed to burst through the midfield unchallenged and took aim for the top corner, which he found thanks to a weak hand from Sanchez.

TONEY-LESS BRENTFORD GET BETTER OF PALACE

Brentford shrugged off the absence of Ivan Toney to get their Premier League season off to a flying start with a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace.

Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa got the goals for the Bees, who had left out England international Toney over speculation surrounding his future.

Toney has less than a year left to run on his contract with the London club and is attracting interest from Saudi clubs after his role in helping England to the Euro 2024 final.

Brentford boss Thomas Frank said pre-match his side had shown last season they can cope without Toney -- who missed much of last term due to a betting ban.

Marc Guehi did captain Crystal Palace despite the interest in him shown by Newcastle.

The England defender had an outstanding Euros but a moment to forget for Brentford’s opening goal.

Brentford won the game 2-1. Picture: HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP

Mbeumo raced onto Wissa’s pass and cut inside Guehi before firing into the far corner.

Palace ended last season in sensational form under Oliver Glasner and will feel hard done by not to have earned at least a point.

Eberechi Eze had a brilliantly executed near post free-kick harshly ruled out for a foul by Will Hughes when the score was still level at 0-0.

A bright Palace start to the second half was rewarded when Ethan Pinnock turned Daniel Munoz’s header into his own goal.

Seconds later, Odsonne Edouard slotted home Eze’s pass only to be denied by a marginal offside decision.

Instead it was Brentford who grabbed the vital third goal.

Dean Henderson could only parry Nathan Collins’ shot straight into the path of Wissa, who bundled home.

Eze was twice denied by Mark Flekken in the closing stages but Brentford held out for an impressive three points.

Originally published as City fire ‘quite scary’ title warning; new Chelsea coach axes big-name stars in statement: EPL Wrap