Man City start pursuit for fifth straight league title with victory at Chelsea

Manchester City began their pursuit of a fifth consecutive Premier League title with a comfortable 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge to ruin Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca’s first game in charge.

Erling Haaland scored for the third season in a row on the opening weekend to hand the champions the lead in the first half, finishing smartly after a clever touch from Bernardo Silva to create the chance.

After seemingly making progress in the second half of last season under former boss Mauricio Pochettino, there was a feeling that Chelsea were beginning again from scratch under Maresca, whose side rarely threatened despite spending more than £160million so far this transfer window.

Man City begin their Premier League title defence with a win