ONE TEAM is facing a record 115 charges of dodgy dealing.
The other had its captain join his team-mates taking the knee just weeks after apologising for making racist remarks.
And a senior player kicking off an hour before the game demanding to know what the heck is going on with his future at the club having been ditched from the matchday squad.
The Premier League is well and truly back.
And anybody naive enough to think now would be the time to let the football do the talking should be in no doubt that 22 blokes chasing after a ball is a sideline these days.
Where there’s money there’s madness and memories of a summer watching international football, the closest thing left to watching the game at its purest, are fading fast.
Manchester City, imperious, title winners four times in a row, rocked up at the Chelsea nuthouse with the clock ticking on an epic hearing into allegations of serious books cooking over the years.
And trying to throw an early spanner in the works of their bid for a fifth on-the-spin were Chelsea, new manager, nine new signings and endless new dramas.
The arrival of Enzo Maresca, the fifth head coach in barely two years since American Todd Boehly led a £2.5 billion buyout at Stamford Bridge, warranted a brief mention on the mic seconds before kick off.
But the Italian has made his mark already – appointing Enzo Fernandez captain after the Argentina midfielder posted a video online mocking the heritage of France’s mixed-race players.
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Chelsea have also left an impression on the transfer market again with a £150million plus player-grab inflating their squad to 43 players, which could lead to trouble.
Curiously, not one of them made the starting line-up and there were 58 minutes gone when new man Pedro Neto, a £51 million buy from Wolves, came off the bench with Maresca’s team chasing the game.
Chelsea aspire to be City. Maresca worked under their manager Pep Guardiola and hails him as a ‘genius’. He even passes for him from a distance.
Both teams will also be competing side by side in the Club World Cup next summer.
But there are vast differences between a club so self-assured that the trifling matter of a looming courtroom battle has not stood in the way of two title wins and a Champions League triumph.
They were not given easy passage into their latest title defence. Certainly not as comfortable as the 4-0 rout against The Blues in pre-season.
But their display showed what being a settled team with a settled manager can do.
Their one new signing, Savinho, looks at home already and Erling Haaland scored his 91st goal for the club in his 100th game.
It won’t be the Norwegian bully’s best of the season and it needed a decent-length VAR check before being given the OK.
But after a proper rest this season on expensive yachts, wearing expensive swimming trunks in hot destinations, with no Euro 2024 demands, City’s prolific striker has returned to competitive action as effective as ever.
Picking up an accidental rebound from Bernardo Silva in the Chelsea box, he manfully held off Levi Colwill and Marc Cucurella before plonking the ball past Robert Sanchez in goal.
Proof that after two full seasons in England, the irrepressible Scandi still hasn’t been worked out yet and he will be as dangerous as ever.
That’s five goals in three opening day games for City now.
Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool were the only teams Manchester City failed to beat in the Premier League last season.
That record has gone on day one but despite the ongoing soap opera at Stamford Bridge, the performance was better than expected until the late collapse.
If Nicolas Jackson ever fully learns the offside law then he might rack up a fair few goals. If he gets to stick around much longer.
With 15 or so players frozen out of first team training completely while the club’s sporting directors sort out the final squad, who knows who will be playing up front when Chelsea take to the field again?
That’s this Thursday in a Europa Conference League play off against Swiss side Servette.
Twice Jackson strayed the wrong side of the line as chances to cancel out Haaland’s 18th minute goal went awry.
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Yet the feelgood factor drained from Chelsea’s legs with six minutes left when their former midfielder picked up on a dreadful defensive clearance and strolled towards goal, brushing off £115m Moises Caicedo before thumping a shot past the rooted £70m defender Wesley Fofana.
That put the seal on victory and it was enough for Boehly, who quit his seat in his VIP box and headed inside having seen enough. It was the same for quite a few Chelsea fans too.
Chelsea ratings vs Man City
CHELSEA began life under new boss Enzo Maresca with a 2-0 home defeat to champions Manchester City.
Here’s how SunSport’s Lloyd Canfield rated the Chelsea lot as the season didn’t begin how they wanted.
Robert Sanchez – 4/10
Distribution-wise, it’s not good enough; that said, he made an absolutely fantastic save to deny a deflected effort from Jeremy Doku in the first half.
Similarly in the second half, made a routine save to deny Erling Haaland before getting a hand to Mateo Kovacic’s shot, but failed to stop it rattling the back of the net.
Malo Gusto – 5
It’s more of the impressive attitude we saw last season from the flying Frenchman, but today, he couldn’t stamp his mark on the game at all going forward.
We certainly see more of his best qualities in the game where Chelsea have more of the ball, he should grow into the season nicely over the next few games.
Wesley Fofana – 5
He didn’t look out of his depth in his first Premier League game for Chelsea for over a year, and despite conceding, it was a decent performance to build on in the coming games.
Did well physically against Haaland in fairness, and made it through the 90 minutes unscathed which will please Chelsea fans in some capacity.
Levi Colwill – 5
Tough day at the office against physicality personified in Erling Haaland.
Did play the ball well out from the back for Chelsea with a few good blocks and tackles. But much the same as with Wesley Fofana, there is room for growth into the season with easier fixtures upcoming, particularly where Chelsea will dominate on the ball.
Marc Cucurella – 6
Forced Jeremy Doku into a change of wing in the first half after winning a tough battle against the Belgian winger, and stepped into challenges well for the most part.
Was solid again in the second half before going off with an injury.
Romeo Lavia – 6
He looked like a calming presence in the Chelsea midfield when he did get the ball and he broke up play pretty well for a player who has been out through injury for so long.
Continued his good pre-season form and is deserving of a run in the side.
Moises Caicedo – 5
A similar performance really to the aforementioned Lavia, but was one of Chelsea’s better progressors of the ball when they did get forwards and showed some nice touches in the middle of the park.
Fans will be left wondering whether he, Lavia and Enzo Fernandez fit into the same midfield.
Enzo Fernandez – 5
A mixed performance from the Argentine midfielder who showed promise in spells, but it really wasn’t the level you would expect of a player with his price tag.
This could have been a huge game for the Chelsea captain for the day, but he failed to really stamp his mark on it in comparison to the player whom he replaced, Mateo Kovacic.
Christopher Nkunku – 4
Enzo Maresca seemed to want him playing as a touchline winger, but the forward looks far more comfortable in the middle of the pitch.
He was the first player to be hooked in the second half and was replaced by Pedro Neto, who looked more at home wide on the left-hand side.
Cole Palmer – 5
It was far from the electric performance which saw him scoop heaps of praise last season.
He still did show glimpses going forward, but he just failed to impact the game in the ways he did last time around.
Nicolas Jackson – 4
New season, same old Nicolas Jackson.
A great run in the first half was let down by a pea-roller of a shot into a Man City defender, before he hit the back of the net only to see the official’s flag raised on the far side.
I’m sorry Nic Jackson, but it’s a four for you this time round…
SUBS:
Pedro Neto (Nkunku, 58) – 5
Not the kind of debut that got fans out of their seats, but with The Blues failing to really get him on the ball there was little to take note of.
Marc Guiu (Jackson, 66) – 5
Less impactful than Nicolas Jackson, but in considerably less time.
For a player who can dominate physically, he looked a little intimidated by the Manchester City defence and wasn’t really presented with any chances.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (Lavia, 67) – 5
Many Chelsea fans were disappointed to see Romeo Lavia come off after a good performance, and Dewsbury-Hall failed to add any of the attacking prowess we saw in the Championship last season.
Renato Veiga (Cucurella, 80) – 5
He didn’t have enough time to impact the game after replacing Marc Cucurella, who had more time to establish himself as one of Chelsea’s better performers.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
