Columbus, Aug 4
Manchester City’s pre-season tour of the United States ended with an entertaining 4-2 win over Chelsea at the Ohio Stadium. An Erling Haaland hat-trick, two of which came in the opening five minutes, and Oscar Bobb strike earned Pep Guardiola’s men a deserved victory in their final friendly ahead of the 2024/25 season.
Former City man Raheem Sterling pulled one back for Chelsea before the hour and Noni Madueke added a second late on, but it did little to dampen what was a convincing display from Guardiola’s men.
With Stefan Ortega Moreno making two impressive saves and James McAtee hitting the post, there could have been more goals at the Ohio Stadium, but a 4-2 triumph sets City up nicely for next Saturday’s Community Shield final against Manchester United.
A frantic start to proceedings set the tone for a memorable final clash in the USA, with a Chelsea mistake presenting City with a golden opportunity for the opener. It came when Levi Colwill brought down Haaland inside the area after a loose pass and, despite the Norwegian having to retake the spot kick, he made no mistake with his second attempt to hand us an early lead.
Things got even better just seconds later, when Haaland doubled his tally in bizarre circumstances.
From the restart, Chelsea’s Moises Caicedo miscued his pass back to Tosin Adarabioyo, which was cut out by the Norwegian, who confidently slotted home with his right foot to make it two inside five minutes. It was a dream start for City, with Jack Grealish then stinging the palms of Robert Sanchez midway through the half.
City would put the game to bed before the hour mark with another quickfire double, the first coming from Bobb. After Sterling’s loose pass was intercepted by McAtee, the midfielder released the Norwegian down the right, who cut inside on his left before disguising an effort in at the near post.
In a carbon copy of the first half, City added another from the next passage of play, McAtee once again grabbing an assist as he fed Haaland to complete his hat-trick with a typically clinical finish.
A captivating second 45 continued to deliver, this time with Chelsea pulling a goal back through Sterling who volleyed home after ghosting in at the back post, before fellow substitute Marc Guiu fired wide from a promising position.
McAtee’s impressive display continued when he turned Reece James inside out, before firing against the near post from a tight angle.
At the other end, Ortega Moreno made yet another excellent save to deny an almost certain goal when Madueke picked up a loose ball in the City box. But the Chelsea sub would eventually get his name on the scoresheet when he added a second for the Londoners with a clinical low finish with his left foot under Scott Carson who had been introduced late on.
The two teams will met again in their opening game of the Premier League season when Chelsea will host the Premier League champions at the Stamford Bridge on August 18.
