Manchester City got off to a great start in the Premier League last weekend, beating Chelsea 2-0.
Despite key players returning to the squad late after their exertions over the summer, City produced a solid performance down at Stamford Bridge.
City were nowhere near their best. But it was still a professional job against a side with some big threats.
Pep Guardiola could welcome back the England players to his starting XI for this weekend’s game with Ipswich Town, although there is a case for Rico Lewis to continue playing at right-back over Kyle Walker.
City’s display against Chelsea was, in some ways, a big message.
Many believe Arsenal are going to win the league this season after closing the gap on City. But Pep’s side turning in such a performance in the absence of key players was potentially ominous.
Jeremy Doku was lively against Chelsea. But in Paul Merson’s eyes, one of his teammates rather showed him up.
Savinho ‘did a lot better than Jeremy Doku’ for Man City in win over Chelsea, but ‘he looks a bit light’
Savinho was handed his Premier League debut by Pep, after looking good when he came on against Manchester United in the Community Shield.
City sadly lost Oscar Bobb to a fractured leg in the days leading up to the game with Chelsea, and this may well have opened the door for Savinho.
He started on the left initially, but swapped positions with £55 million ace Jeremy Doku midway through the first-half – and he got a lot of joy against Marc Cucurella.
Savinho got the better of him a few times, showing lovely footwork to create space.
He got into dangerous positions with ease, and did create a couple of opportunities.
Pundit Paul Merson liked what he saw from the Brazilian, and reckons he upstaged his fellow winger Doku at Stamford Bridge.
He told Sportskeeda: “I was very impressed with Savinho, he did a lot better than Jeremy Doku against Chelsea. He got injured at the end and that’s his problem – he looks a bit light at the moment.
“I’m sure City will work on him becoming stronger and he definitely has the skillset to become an incredible player for them.”
Harsh from Merson regarding his injury
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It is very easy to say that Savinho looks ‘light’ after going off at half-time against Chelsea.
But none of us know what he was feeling. To be fair he did carry on for a few minutes until half-time, but City clearly did not want to risk him, and he has been back in training this week.
Savinho will have to get used to getting kicked though with the way he plays. He is obviously quite like Riyad Mahrez, who used to get fouled quite a bit.
Merson is probably right with his assessment of his actual performance though. Savinho was more effective than Doku, and the Brazilian should be trying to get as many goal contributions as the Belgian did in his first campaign.
