Manchester City started their 2024/25 Premier League campaign with a victory against Chelsea at the weekend.
After beating Manchester United in the Community Shield, City beat Enzo Maresca’s side 2-0 at Stamford Bridge thanks to goals from Erling Haaland and Mateo Kovacic.
Following this game and the rest of the first round of top-flight fixtures from the weekend, one figure in Pep Guardiola’s side found himself on the end of some significant praise for his efforts in the match.
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Troy Deeney praises Ruben Dias after Chelsea performance
In his first Team of the Week column for BBC Sport, Troy Deeney had this to say about Ruben Dias’ performance against Chelsea.
He said: “Dias was excellent in the champions’ win at Chelsea, getting back in the first half in front of people to save what would have been a perfect goal. Just a proper, proper defender.”
Dias showed his defensive strength against Chelsea
Prior to the game in West London, it was reported that City are eager to see Dias sign a contract extension at the Etihad Stadium in the near future due to how important he is for the team.
Completing the full 90 minutes against Chelsea, Dias had 81 touches of the ball in total and was able to accurately make 69 of the 71 passes he attempted.
This left him with a passing accuracy percentage of 97%, the highest in the entire City team.
In addition to showing his assuredness on the ball, the centre-back also proved his defensive qualities yet again.
Specifically, Dias made two clearances, two interceptions and one tackle to stop Chelsea from finding the back of the net.
As well as that, the Portuguese international won all three duels he was involved in, didn’t get dribbled past once and didn’t give any fouls away throughout the game.
Taking all of that into account, it’s easy to see why Deeney felt the need to include Dias in his first Team of the Week and speak so highly of him and his performance at Stamford Bridge.
