Sergio Aguero reached another milestone as Manchester City grabbed a convincing 2-0 win over Chelsea in the Community Shield at Wembley, marking a positive warm up to their title defence.
City’s all-time top scorer struck 13 minutes into the traditional curtain-raiser to reach 200 goals for the club and added another midway through the second half (58) to secure silverware after a mismatch of a contest.
Pep Guardiola had spoken of his enduring motivation despite last season’s record-breaking campaign, and his champions bristled with energy even without several key men to leave Maurizio Sarri with plenty to ponder ahead of next weekend’s top-flight kick-off.
Riyad Mahrez, making his competitive City debut in the sunshine, sent a free-kick into the Chelsea wall and then threaded through a clever ball that Aguero failed to catch cleanly.
But when Phil Foden was allowed to drive at goal, Aguero this time met his lay-off with a firm left boot. Foden did not waste his chance. It was his jinking run which forced Chelsea’s central defenders out of position and a nicely timed pass found Aguero in space around the fringes of the penalty area for the opening goal, early in the game.
Aguero feinted to go one way, twisted the other and fired low past Antonio Rudiger’s attempted block and the dive of Willy Caballero. Without a strong performance from Caballero this might have slipped into the realms of humilation for the Londoners.
Another turn of pace from Foden left Jorginho trailing as he sliced Chelsea open through the centre and found Riyad Mahrez free on the right. Mahrez was betrayed by his touch, which summed up his debut and offered a reminder of the technical polish which has become the norm at City.
When a player fails to stop the ball dead, it jars with the rhythm. Foden and Bernardo Silva, deployed in the roles normally occupied by David Silva and Kevin de Bruyne, were in sublime touch.
Whether the opted to pass or run, the decision seemed to be sound and their execution matched. Chelsea struggled for a foothold in the contest – Jorginho laboured against the side he nearly joined – and when the peripheral Alvaro Morata was let in by Kyle Walker’s poor touch, the Spaniard curled well off-target.
Riyad Mahrez was handed a competitive debut for Manchester City at Wembley but while England’s World Cup stars John Stones and Kyle Walker started, Raheem Sterling was not involved.
Maurizio Sarri named summer signing Jorginho in his side and gave starts to Ross Barkley and teenager Callum Hudson-Odoi.
The livelier Callum Hudson-Odoi followed suit the other side of a drinks break, before going closer with a shot Claudio Bravo parried, and the Chilean was sent scrambling after misjudging the bounce of a ball Marcos Alonso had launched from range.
Mahrez and Leroy Sane had spurned chances to extend City’s lead before the break with heavy touches and Aguero was wasteful soon after the restart, one tame shot followed by another into the side-netting after another smart Foden pass.
Silva made the second for Aguero, who sped away from Rudiger and behind David Luiz to apply a crisp finish to a perfectly timed pass.
Chelsea have plenty of players to return, including their two most important under Antonio Conte: N’Golo Kane and Eden Hazard. Even so, Sarri appears to be quite some distance from the patterns and rhythm he is searching for. The new manager paced the touchline in his baggy blue tee-shirt chewing on gum. Jorginho is the signing he wanted above all, the key to playing the style he craves and stolen from under City’s noses.
The Brazil-born Italian international enjoyed lots of the ball at Wembley, sitting in front of the centre-halves, setting the tempo.
Bravo’s fumble as a Ross Barkley ball spun dangerously almost earned Chelsea a late consolation but Willy Cabellero had to beat away efforts from Brahim Diaz and Gabriel Jesus to keep the score down and Sarri was left scribbling in his notebook as Guardiola tasted familiar success.