Pep Guardiola was full of praise for his Manchester City side after they secured 2-0 victory away against Chelsea in their opening Premier League game of the new season on Sunday afternoon.
The reigning top-flight champions had their pre-season preparations impacted by the absence of a number of first-team stars who were not present on their tour of the United States earlier in the summer.
Spain's Euro 2024 winner Rodri was not ready to return for the contest at Stamford Bridge, and Oscar Bobb is sidelined with a leg fracture, while England trio Phil Foden, Kyle Walker and John Stones all began as substitutes having only recently returned to training.
Nevertheless, Man City showed no signs of weakness as they began the defence of their Premier League title with a controlled victory over Enzo Maresca's Chelsea, courtesy of goals either side of half time from Erling Haaland and former Chelsea man Mateo Kovacic.
Haaland marked his 100th appearance for the Citizens with a delicate 18th-minute opener dinked over Robert Sanchez - his 91st goal for the club - before Kovacic wrapped up the three points six minutes from time with a curling strike from just outside the penalty box.
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Guardiola: 'Man City have advantage in PL title race'
Speaking to reporters after the match about Man City's performance, Guardiola said: "I didn't expect it. We are away from our best so three points is the good news. The bad news is we have 65 games ahead of us.
"We have an advantage, it's our ninth season together so we know each other well. Of course there are mistakes you have to improve but we talked, the difference in being champions was our body language, how did we behave?
"It's the bad moments in the season and in the games that define the big teams. For me, it is an honour to be in charge of these guys. I am so impressed. I'm so fortunate, I could not say more.
"There is a plan, defensive, offensive. But afterwards it's how we celebrate the good moments and come back from the bad moments.
"That's what defines these teams and no one talks about it. For a while we could never win at Stamford Bridge. This is a big step."
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Guardiola compares Haaland to Messi, Ronaldo
Guardiola also heaped praise on Haaland and his exceptional goalscoring record, comparing the Citizens striker to footballing icons Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
"I had the feeling that he feels better than last season at this stage," said the Catalan boss. "Always he felt tired but with the Euros not being there, he is rested and feels good.
"The goal was magnificent. They review the goal with Rico Lewis. His contribution was defensively and in midfield too.
"These are numbers like Messi and Ronaldo, that controlled everything in the last decade. His numbers are that level. To do that in this country is unbelievable."
Remarkably, Haaland has scored more Premier League goals in August (13) than Chelsea have managed as a team (11), and four more than rivals Manchester United (nine), since the start of the 2022-23 campaign.
Man City will now turn their attention to their first home league match of the 2024-25 season at the Etihad Stadium against newly-promoted Ipswich Town next Saturday.
Oliver Thomas
