Two weeks after their first Premier League match and the official debut of new head coach Enzo Maresca, Chelsea were once again in a bad mood in midfield and defense as they lost 4-0 to Manchester City before overcoming a two-goal deficit in the game leading up to Saturday’s game. Season friendly. Columbus, Ohio.
Oh, and what will they face on opening day?These same four-time defending and reigning champions of the PL.
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Erling Haaland had Manchester City 2-0 up before the clock struck 5:00am. m. , when he changed from the penalty spot (he also won the penalty) in the 4th minute and broke through the Chelsea defense to beat Robert Sánchez. minute 5. Haaland’s second goal was the first of three direct effects, as Chelsea had given the ball away unnecessarily in their own half.
They were to blame 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 thing about Chelsea is some other harmful functionality from winger Noni Madueke from the bench. The 22-year-old set up Raheem Sterling for Chelsea’s opener in the 59th minute and scored himself in the 89th.
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Below you will find lineups, 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 has to be said that Noni Madueke has been fantastic since coming on at half-time (as he has been on Chelsea’s tour of the United States), exploiting the right attacking channel to get into the penalty area and return the ball through the goal. He did just that 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 completed his hat-trick alone.
Chelsea are simply getting out of their way at the moment.
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.
No more Keystone Cops in the Chelsea defense as Moisés Caicedo passes the ball to no one in particular, straight into his own goal. Erling Haaland was the first to react, running towards the goal and beating Robert Sánchez again.
It was not entirely clear whether Levi Colwill had even touched Haaland before the Norwegian great fell to the ground inside the penalty area, but the referee pointed to the point and held his resolution.
Anyway, unlike Celtic, Chelsea still struggle to get the ball out of their own defensive third, let alone the offensive 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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