Chelsea 0 Man City 2: Enzo Maresca kicks off Blues reign in defeat as Pep Guardiola’s champions cruise to victory
ONE TEAM is facing a record 115 charges of dodgy dealing.
The other had its captain join his team-mates taking the knee just weeks after apologising for making racist remarks.
And a senior player kicking off an hour before the game demanding to know what the heck is going on with his future at the club having been ditched from the matchday squad.
The Premier League is well and truly back.
And anybody naive enough to think now would be the time to let the football do the talking should be in no doubt that 22 blokes chasing after a ball is a sideline these days.
Where there’s money there’s madness and memories of a summer watching international football, the closest thing left to watching the game at its purest, are fading fast.
Manchester City, imperious, title winners four times in a row, rocked up at the Chelsea nuthouse with the clock ticking on an epic hearing into allegations of serious books cooking over the years.
And trying to throw an early spanner in the works of their bid for a fifth on-the-spin were Chelsea, new manager, nine new signings and endless new dramas.
The arrival of Enzo Maresca, the fifth head coach in barely two years since American Todd Boehly led a £2.5 billion buyout at Stamford Bridge, warranted a brief mention on the mic seconds before kick off.
But the Italian has made his mark already – appointing Enzo Fernandez captain after the Argentina midfielder posted a video online mocking the heritage of France’s mixed-race players.
BEST FREE BET SIGN UP OFFERS FOR UK BOOKMAKERS
Chelsea have also left an impression on the transfer market again with a £150million plus player-grab inflating their squad to 43 players, which could lead to trouble.
Curiously, not one of them made the starting line-up and there were 58 minutes gone when new man Pedro Neto, a £51 million buy from Wolves, came off the bench with Maresca’s team chasing the game.
Chelsea aspire to be City. Maresca worked under their manager Pep Guardiola and hails him as a ‘genius’. He even passes for him from a distance.
Both teams will also be competing side by side in the Club World Cup next summer.
But there are vast differences between a club so self-assured that the trifling matter of a looming courtroom battle has not stood in the way of two title wins and a Champions League triumph.
They were not given easy passage into their latest title defence. Certainly not as comfortable as the 4-0 rout against The Blues in pre-season.
But their display showed what being a settled team with a settled manager can do.
Their one new signing, Savinho, looks at home already and Erling Haaland scored his 91st goal for the club in his 100th game.
It won’t be the Norwegian bully’s best of the season and it needed a decent-length VAR check before being given the OK.
But after a proper rest this season on expensive yachts, wearing expensive swimming trunks in hot destinations, with no Euro 2024 demands, City’s prolific striker has returned to competitive action as effective as ever.
Picking up an accidental rebound from Bernardo Silva in the Chelsea box, he manfully held off Levi Colwill and Marc Cucurella before plonking the ball past Robert Sanchez in goal.
Proof that after two full seasons in England, the irrepressible Scandi still hasn’t been worked out yet and he will be as dangerous as ever.
That’s five goals in three opening day games for City now.
Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool were the only teams Manchester City failed to beat in the Premier League last season.
That record has gone on day one but despite the ongoing soap opera at Stamford Bridge, the performance was better than expected until the late collapse.
If Nicolas Jackson ever fully learns the offside law then he might rack up a fair few goals. If he gets to stick around much longer.
With 15 or so players frozen out of first team training completely while the club’s sporting directors sort out the final squad, who knows who will be playing up front when Chelsea take to the field again?
That’s this Thursday in a Europa Conference League play off against Swiss side Servette.
Twice Jackson strayed the wrong side of the line as chances to cancel out Haaland’s 18th minute goal went awry.
Yet the feelgood factor drained from Chelsea’s legs with six minutes left when their former midfielder picked up on a dreadful defensive clearance and strolled towards goal, brushing off £115m Moises Caicedo before thumping a shot past the rooted £70m defender Wesley Fofana.
That put the seal on victory and it was enough for Boehly, who quit his seat in his VIP box and headed inside having seen enough. It was the same for quite a few Chelsea fans too.