Marc Cucurella was made to eat his words after Erling Haaland netted early on against Chelsea to get Manchester City’s Premier League title defence off to the perfect start.
Hosts Chelsea got off to a promising start but City wrestled back the momentum and Enzo Maresca’s side were punished after some lacklustre defending in the 18th minute at Stamford Bridge.
Bernardo Silva picked up possession from Jeremy Doku and found Erling Haaland, who danced past Cucurella and dinked the ball over Robert Sanchez to break the deadlock.
The well-taken strike took the Norwegian’s extraordinary tally 91 goals in 100 games for City.
Shortly after the goal, a video – taken after Spain’s Euro 2024 triumph earlier in this summer – began circulating across social media showing Cucurella calling out Haaland.
‘Cucu, Cucurella, he eats paella, Cucu, Cucurella he drinks Estrella, Haaland you’d better tremble as Cucurella is coming,’ the Chelsea full-back was filmed singing during Spain’s celebrations in Madrid.
The left-back was also pictured belting out the chant in Spain’s hotel on the night of their win over the Three Lions in Berlin.
Cucurella’s day went from bad to worse as he was forced off with an injury in the 80th minute versus City. Summer signing Renato Veiga came on in the Spaniard’s place and was powerless as ex-Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic doubled the visitors’ lead at the death.
Chelsea fans could be heard chanting Conor Gallagher’s name following Haaland’s first-half goal, with the England midfielder left out of Maresca’s matchday squad in west London.
Atletico Madrid are pushing to sign Gallagher but the move has stalled and the England international has been training alone at Cobham in the build-up to Chelsea’s encounter with City.
The likes of Romelu Lukaku, Armando Broja, Ben Chilwell and Raheem Sterling also omited Chelsea’s 20-man group to take on Pep Guardiola’s City.
Lukaku and Broja are both expected to leave Chelsea before the transfer deadline, while Sterling had been expecting to make the squad against his former side.
As Chelsea’s team news filtered through, Sterling’s camp released a statement calling for ‘clarity’ over the forward’s situation.
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‘He returned to England two weeks early to conduct individual training, and has had a positive pre-season under the new coach, who he has developed a good working relationship with.
‘He is committed, as ever, to delivering at the highest level for Chelsea FC and the fans, who he holds in high regard, and given his inclusion in official club pre-match material this week, our expectation was that Raheem would be involved in this weekend’s fixture in some capacity.
‘As a camp, we have always had positive dialogue with, and assurance from, Chelsea FC in relation to Raheem’s future at the club, so we look forward to gaining clarity on the situation.
‘Until then, we will continue to support Raheem’s desire to start the new season positively.’
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