Erling Haaland scored the opening goal in the 18th minute with a dinked finish over Robert Sanchez, helping Manchester City start their bid for a fifth consecutive Premier League title with a 2-0 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Haaland scored an impressive 91 goals and provided 15 assists in 100 appearances for Manchester City since joining the club two years ago, helping them win a treble and another Premier League title.
Haaland's ability in the game showed his readiness after the summer break, and ability to use both feet as requested by Pep Guardiola. He took a few touches before scoring.
Haaland's positioning and movement create space for his teammates to exploit.
The Norwegian national expressed his desire to improve as an overall player. Guardiola has drilled a message into Haaland about using both feet and contributing to the buildup of play despite City's strong midfield and defense.
Manchester City had their pre-season disrupted by key player absences, and they lost three out of four league games without Rodri last season.
Haaland ignored Marc Cucurella's request for help with cramp during the match, leading to Cucurella's substitution, and poked fun at Cucurella in a post-match interview.
He accused Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez of targeting him with rough contact during the match.
Kevin de Bruyne came close to scoring shortly after Haaland's opener, while Nicolas Jackson thought he had equalized for Chelsea but was ruled offside. Jackson also fired a first-time volley straight at Ederson in the second half.
Haaland and Manchester City are preparing to face Ipswich Town in their next fixture.
This article was written in collaboration with Generative AI news company Alchemiq
Sources: NYTimes, Independent, BBC, The Guardian, MSN, ManchesterCity.news, Goal, Citi Sports Online, Mirror, Daily Mail, 90min, ABC News, The Sun, Republic World, Times of India.