Erling Haaland shows he's the best and three other talking points as Man City beat Chelsea in league opener
Erling Haaland showed his class with his goal for Man City in their Premier League win over Chelsea
REUTERS
Manchester City's defence of their Premier League title is up and running after a 2-0 over Chelsea on Sunday.
Pep Guardiola's side went into the game expecting to leave Stamford Bridge with all three points as they look to win the league for the fifth year in a row.
Erling Haaland opened the scoring in the 18th minute after some good work from Bernardo Silva, with Mateo Kovacic then netting a fine strike in the second half to make the result safe.
GB News now takes a look at four observations from the match in west London.
Erling Haaland shows why he's the best
Erling Haaland showed his class with his goal for Man City in their Premier League win over Chelsea
REUTERS
Haaland has been nothing short of unstoppable since moving to City from Borussia Dortmund two years ago.
And while he was subdued against Manchester United in the Community Shield last week, he proved his class on Sunday.
Haaland's goal was impressive. The 24-year-old showed stength, composure and fine dribbling as he rifled past Robert Sanchez with just 18 minutes left on the clock.
And to think people still bang on about how many touches he has...
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City's squad depth rises to the occasion
There is no squad in world football quite like City's. If one player is injured, they're able to replace them effortlessly.
And that was the case on Sunday. Rico Lewis didn't put a foot wrong, with the youngster able to come in for Oscar Bobb. Kovacic, who wasn't always a starter, scored a stunning goal to stake his claim for a starting berth.
City suffered a blow when Savinho was forced off through injury at half time. No bother, though, because they had Phil Foden, their best player last season, waiting in the wings.
Experienced stars such as John Stones, Kyle Walker, Jack Grealish and Nathan Ake weren't even needed. Guardiola has a quality of riches at his disposal and the rest of the top flight can only look on with envy.
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Chelsea have work to do
Chelsea weren't bad against City, but the difference in quality between the two sides was clear to see.
Enzo Maresca's side are still getting to grips with each other, especially after another big summer of such lavish spending. It will take time for this team to gel.
There were encouraging signs, of course. Malo Gusto picked up from last term with another asssured display, Romeo Lavia did well and Enzo Fernandez put a summer of controversy behind him with a good performance in the middle of the park.
But Chelsea are still a 'what if' type of team. An upgrade on Nicholas Jackson is needed if they're to compete with City for the biggest prizes on offer.
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Raheem Sterling is in limbo
Erling Haaland showed remarkable strength and composure as Man City beat Chelsea in their Premier League opener
REUTERS
One big talking point before the match was the absence of Raheem Sterling.
The England international had expected to start the showdown in west London, particularly after playing a big role in pre-season, only for the Chelsea star to be left out of the squad entirely.
Mateo Kovacic refused to celebrate after scoring for Man City against Chelsea
REUTERS
His camp want clarity on his future and there's now a sense that his days at Stamford Bridge are numbered.
It should hardly be a surprise given how poor he's been since his arrival from City two years ago, but the decline of Sterling is sad to see and it'll be interesting to see where things go from here.
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