Chelsea 2-4 Manchester City: Haaland hat-trick downs Blues in Ohio

Erling Haaland’s hat-trick was enough to see Manchester City end their pre-season tour of the United States with a 4-2 win over Chelsea in Ohio.

Haaland scored twice in the first five minutes before Oscar Bobb added City’s third in the second half, with the Norweigan completing his treble soon after.

Raheem Sterling and Noni Madueke took the shine off an otherwise impressive display from Pep Guardiola’s side ahead of their Community Shield fixture against Manchester United next week.

A frantic start to proceedings saw Levi Colwill bring down Haaland in the box, and despite having to retake his spot kick, Haaland made no mistake with his second attempt.

City’s lead was doubled a minute later when Moises Caicedo’s loose pass was cut out by Haaland, who finished confidently with his right foot beyond Robert Sanchez.

Bobb would put the game beyond doubt 10 minutes into the second half after being picked out by James McAtee to finish at the near post.

McAtee would grab his second assist of the game moments later, setting up Haaland to complete his hat-trick with a typically clinical finish.

Sterling would pull a goal back just before the hour mark as he volleyed beyond Stefan Ortega, with Madueke halving the deficit in the 89th minute with a low strike.

FULL-TIME | Victory in our final pre-season match!

4-2 #ManCity pic.twitter.com/4y4ERV054S

— Manchester City (@ManCity) August 3, 2024

Data Debrief: Haaland well-prepared for Community Shield

Despite underperforming their expected goals (xG) by 2.25 at the Ohio Stadium, City showed the advantage of having a prolific striker at the top end of the pitch.

Haaland contributed 1.4 xG to City’s final total of 1.75, accumulating the most shots (four), shots on target (three) and touches in the opposition box (seven) of any player on the pitch.