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Chelsea faced their second defeat of the pre-season, losing 4-2 against Manchester City on Saturday, August 3. The Ohio Stadium in Ohio, US, hosted the clash.
The Cityzens opened the scoring in the fourth minute itself as Erling Haaland scored from the penalty spot. He then added another goal just a minute later. Oscar Bobb made it 3-0 in the 55th minute before Haaland completed his hat-trick a minute later.
Raheem Sterling (59') and Noni Madueke (89') reduced the Blues' deficit but it was too late. They dominated possession (53%) and had more attempts (12) with four being on target as compared to Manchester City's 7/10 on-target attempts. However, they failed to break down the Cityzens.
After the game, some Chelsea fans expressed their disappointment and anger on X while some rival fans enjoyed their defeat. One wrote on X:
"Trust the process FC"
One Blues fan directed their frustration towards Mykhaylo Mudryk, writing:
"Tell mudryk to get out the club"
Another fan pointed out that the west London side have conceded 10 goals in four pre-season games so far, writing:
"Enzo Maresca has conceded 10 games already as a Chelsea manager. The season hasn't even started yet"
"Sell mudryk," another fan tweeted.
"Mudryk shouldn't be our first choice LW honestly," another fan commented.
"You guys played Man City u23 and lost. What will happen when you play the main team in two weeks time?" a rival fan asked.
Notably, Chelsea will host Manchester City at Stamford Bridge in their Premier League 2024-25 opener on August 18.
Chelsea manager Enzo Marseca on pitch conditions after defeat against Manchester City
The Blues lost 4-2 against Manchester City at the Ohio Stadium on Saturday. While they dominated possession and had more attempts, they gave away cheap goals, losing possession in dangerous areas.
After the game, Enzo Maresca was asked if Chelsea's mistakes could have to do with the condition of the pitch. He said (via Football.London):
"Sometimes when we say something it sounds like an excuse so I do not want to say this but for sure, the pitch doesn't help. With the way we like to play, the pitch needs to be quick but it was slowing it down.
"In this moment, we need to learn things. Probably more than the goals we conceded, we need to learn that when you concede one, you cannot concede one and then after two minutes another one. This is something that I just said to the players; we need to learn. When we concede one, we need to become stronger so we don't concede another one."
Notably, the football pitches in the US came under heavy criticism during the Copa America 2024 earlier this summer. The likes of Marcelo Bielsa slammed the pitches and the authorities.
