In a thrilling pre-season friendly match held at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Manchester City emerged victorious with a 4-2 win over Chelsea.
The game was marked by a series of errors from Chelsea, which ultimately led to their downfall.
Erling Haaland stole the show with a stunning hat-trick, capitalizing on Chelsea’s mistakes to give Manchester City an early lead. The Norwegian striker scored his first goal from the penalty spot in the fourth minute after Levi Colwill brought him down following a loose pass from Tosin Adarabioyo. Haaland doubled City’s lead just moments later, intercepting a miscued pass from Moises Caicedo to slot the ball home.
The second half saw City extend their lead with two quick-fire goals. Oscar Bobb scored in the 55th minute, taking advantage of a mistake from Raheem Sterling to fire a shot past the near post. Haaland completed his hat-trick just one minute later, profiting from another error, this time from Malo Gusto.
Chelsea managed to score two consolation goals, with Raheem Sterling volleying in a cross in the 59th minute and Noni Madueke scoring on the counter-attack in the 88th minute. Despite the late surge, Chelsea’s errors had already sealed their fate.
Both managers, Pep Guardiola and Enzo Maresca acknowledged the “dry” pitch conditions, which contributed to the high number of mistakes. Maresca insisted that his team played well in a “strange” game, while Guardiola will be pleased with his team’s performance ahead of their Community Shield match against Manchester United next Saturday.
Chelsea, on the other hand, will continue their pre-season tour in the United States, facing Real Madrid on Tuesday night before returning to Stamford Bridge to play Inter Milan next Sunday.
