Manchester City got the better of Chelsea, avenging their 4-2 defeat in the first leg of the Champions League last week. ManCity made a winning debut for Marmoush, who kept a clean sheet. Gvardiol, Haaland and Foden scored in the 3-1 win.
Mamroush was not yet part of the 4-2 Champions League defeat at PSG, as the transfer to Manchester was not officially confirmed until the day after. However, the 75-million-man was in the starting lineup against Chelsea, but had to witness another expensive new signing for the Skyblues, Khusanov, make a disastrous debut. After three minutes, the Uzbek headed the ball too short back to Ederson, which Chelsea took advantage of in the person of Madueke to take an early lead.
ManCity had a tough time of it and were lucky that the Blues failed to make it 2-0 when Palmer and Jackson both ran alone on Ederson (10th). On the counterattack, Foden shot the post and shook the Citizens awake, from then on, Guardiola’s team dominated the game. Marmoush was repeatedly sought, but the Egyptian was often offside when he finished – as was his alleged equalizer (35th).
Alongside Marmoush, Gvardiol also made a noticeable impact. The former Leipzig player had two chances to make it 1-1, but both of his shots were wide of the mark. On 42 minutes, however, Gvardiol only had to push the ball over the line after Sanchez had parried Matheus Nunes’ shot into the Croatian’s path. The equalizer shortly before half-time was more than deserved.
After the restart, it was the Skyblues again who had the first chance through Haaland (52). Shortly afterwards, Guardiola took off unlucky Khusanov, who had already seen yellow, and put Stones on in his place (54).
Haaland’s lob
Overall, the second half had fewer highlights to offer because both teams stabilized defensively. However, ManCity remained more dangerous and dominant. In minute 67, Marmoush had another chance to score his debut goal, but narrowly missed the top right corner. However, the Skyblues turned the game around immediately afterwards, with Haaland lifting the ball over the completely off-position Sanchez (68′).
Chelsea now had to react, but could hardly create any dangerous scoring chances. ManCity defended well in the final phase, didn’t concede anything, and went on the decisive counterattack: Haaland sent Foden, who scored 3-1 free in front of Sanchez (87′).
The final score remained the same, with the victory moving the Skyblues past Chelsea in the table and now putting them in 4th place. The Citizens continue in the Champions League during the week, with Club Brugge waiting on Wednesday (9 p.m.). Chelsea, meanwhile, are not in action again until February 3 against West Ham.
