August 18th 2024.
The highly anticipated match between Manchester City and Chelsea at Stamford Bridge was off to an exciting start as City's Erling Haaland scored the first goal of the game. It was a perfect start for the defending Premier League champions, and it left Chelsea's Marc Cucurella eating his words. Cucurella had been caught on video, during Spain's Euro 2024 celebrations earlier in the summer, singing a playful chant about Haaland. But now, with the Norwegian's early goal, it seemed that karma had come back to bite Cucurella.
Chelsea started the game strong, but City quickly gained momentum and took control of the match. In the 18th minute, Enzo Maresca's side capitalized on some lackluster defending by Chelsea and punished them with another goal, this time from Bernardo Silva. The Portuguese midfielder received a pass from Jeremy Doku and found Haaland, who skillfully evaded Cucurella and chipped the ball over Chelsea's goalkeeper, Robert Sanchez. It was a beautiful goal and also marked Haaland's 91st goal in just 100 games for Manchester City.
Unfortunately for Cucurella, his day only got worse from there. He was forced off the field with an injury in the 80th minute, and his replacement, Renato Veiga, was unable to stop City's Mateo Kovacic from scoring a third goal for the visitors. It was a tough loss for Chelsea, especially for Cucurella, who had also been left out of the matchday squad before the game.
Meanwhile, Chelsea fans could be heard chanting the name of Conor Gallagher, the young English midfielder who was not included in the squad for the match. There were also notable absences in the 20-man group, including Romelu Lukaku, Armando Broja, Ben Chilwell, and Raheem Sterling. Lukaku and Broja were expected to leave Chelsea before the transfer deadline, while Sterling, a former City player, was hoping to face his old team.
It was a disappointing start to the season for Sterling, who had returned to England early to train individually and had a positive pre-season under the team's new coach. His camp had released a statement before the game, calling for clarity on his situation at the club. They expressed his commitment to Chelsea and the fans, but also stated their expectation for him to be involved in the match. However, he was ultimately left out of the squad, leaving his future at the club uncertain.
As the match continued, it became clear that City was the dominant team, and they ended up with a comfortable 3-0 victory. It was a tough loss for Chelsea, but they will have to regroup and come back stronger in their next game. As for Haaland, his impressive goal-scoring record for Manchester City continues to grow, proving his worth as one of the best players in the league.
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