- Manchester City beat Chelsea 2-0 in their Premier League opener.
- Pep Guardiola is missing several key players, including Rodri, who is unavailable.
- Former Blues player Mateo Kovacic has been in fine form.
Despite an underwhelming pre-season, Manchester City, led by Spanish coach Pep Guardiola, still opened the 2024-2025 season with the same high standards after defeating Chelsea at Stamford Bridge 0-2 in the Premier League on Sunday.
In the game, Man City were missing key players such as Spanish midfielder Rodri and two England players, Kyle Walker and Phil Foden , but Guardiola ‘s team still showed their strength with two goals from Erling Haaland and Mateo Kovacic.
Last season, City won their fourth consecutive league title by beating Arsenal by just two points. However, Rodri missed four pre-season games, which led to three defeats for the Citizens. However, against Chelsea, they proved that other players can be substitutes.
Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy said: “With Rodri out and the energy of Chelsea’s young players and the fact they are playing at Stamford Bridge, I think this ทางเข้า ufabet https://ufabet999.app game could be a good opportunity for them.”
“However, Kovacic saved City from that situation. He played brilliantly and scored the final goal to help the team secure the three points. I think he will be very happy to play at Chelsea this time. He has to face Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia .”
“But when the game was over, Kovacic thought he had shown everyone at Chelsea what they were missing. Of course, you don’t get another player to do everything that Rodri does. He’s the best holding midfielder in the world so you always see little mistakes when someone else plays in that position. But overall, Kovacic did a great job.”
Kovacic, 30, moved to City from Chelsea last season for a fee in the region of £25million and has made 48 appearances in all competitions for the Citizens, scoring four goals and winning the Premier League title.
Murphy added: “He is comfortable on the ball and knows when to keep it and when to move forward through the defence. His level of performance means City won’t have to think about Rodri when he’s not available.”
“He had to go back down more defensively but he got back in position, made two or three important interceptions. He did really well. Of course he made some mistakes but it never affected him because he played with confidence and understood what Pep wanted.”
With Rodri unavailable, Kovacic’s impressive displays have given Guardiola more options and confidence in the central midfield, and the Croatian could be a key piece of the puzzle as City look to secure the title until the end of the season.