Man City launch EPL title defence with 2-0 victory over Chelsea

Manchester City began their Premier League title defence in emphatic form, beating Chelsea 2-0 on Sunday afternoon at Stamford Bridge.

The visitors found the lead in 18th minute through Erling Haaland, who powered through Chelsea’s defence after receiving the ball from Bernardo Silva.

Scoring Manchester City’s season opener for the third consecutive year, the Norwegian forward extended his tally to 91 goals in 100 appearances for the club.

Soccer betting sites are paying -161.29 for Haaland to win the Golden Boot for the third season in a row, ahead of Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah (+900) and Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak (+1600).

In full control of the match, the Citizens doubled their lead six minutes from stoppage time through former Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic.

Emerging from London with three crucial points, the win also extended City’s unbeaten run to 24 league games.

“I didn’t expect it,” said City manager Pep Guardiola in a post-match interview.

“We are away from our best so three points is the good news. The bad news is we have 65 games ahead of us.”

Despite missing key players for the pre-season tour to the United States due to their involvement in EURO 2024, Guardiola remained optimistic for the season.

“We have an advantage — it’s our ninth season together, so we know each other well,” he said.

“Of course, there are mistakes you have to improve, but we talked — the difference in being champions was our body language.”

Meanwhile, Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca was impressed despite defeat in his opening match.

“I thought our performance was good,” he said.

“We competed against the best team in the world and we competed for large parts at the same level and in some moments were even better.”

Manchester City are among eight teams to have won on the opening weekend, alongside Newcastle United, Manchester United, Brentford, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Brighton & Hove Albion and Arsenal.

Brighton sit top of the league on goal difference after beating Everton 3-0 on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City — who all claimed 2-0 wins — share second place.

The final encounter of Matchday 1 takes place on Monday night at the King Power Stadium, where Tottenham Hotspur are -161.29 favourites to beat Leicester City (+430) at Bovada.

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