Mateo Kovacic beat Robert Sanchez to double Manchester City’s lead against Chelsea (Picture: Getty)
Joe Hart says Robert Sanchez got himself ‘lost in the goal’ and will ‘feel that he could have done better’ for Mateo Kovacic’s late strike in Manchester City’s 2-0 win at Chelsea.
Enzo Maresca’s reign as Chelsea boss got off to a losing start at Stamford Bridge as goals from Erling Haaland and Kovacic sealed a comfortable away victory for the Premier League champions.
The hosts started promisingly in the opening stages but City wrestled back the momentum and went in front through Haaland, who danced around Marc Cucurella before dinking the ball into the net.
Chelsea came up short in pursuit of an equaliser and were punished by one of their former players in Kovacic, who found himself in acres of space before lashing a 20-yard effort beyond Sanchez to double the visitors’ advantage.
Sanchez’s wayward goal kick was partly at fault for City regaining possession before the strike and Hart – providing punditry for Optus Sport – felt the Spaniard compounded his initial error by mistiming his attempted save.
‘Sanchez got himself in a little bit of a pickle with his feet having played that ball out,’ the former England and Manchester City goalkeeper said.
‘It was a great press from Haaland, he put the pressure on. Kovacic has nicked the ball and is probably looking for who he can pass to forward and the whole place has opened up.
The Croatian midfielder found the net on his return to Stamford Bridge (Picture: Getty)
‘He’s seen his angle and given Sanchez the eyes. We think Sanchez could be slightly over, he’s given him a lot of the goal.
‘I think he got a little bit lost in the goal with the readjustment from giving the ball away.
‘But this goalkeeper has got an incredible spring so his spring does actually get him out of trouble. It’s just the timing on the hand – I think he will feel that he could have done better.
‘With all that’s gone on… he’s got himself in a difficult position, got himself out of it and then timed it all wrong.’
Hart was critical of Sanchez after Kovacic’s late strike (Picture: Getty)
According to Hart, the ability to get a hand on long-range strikes from any starting position is what sets ‘top goalkeepers’ apart from the rest.
‘That’s Premier League football. Technically, if someone shoots from 20 yards out you want to be set on both feet, ready to take a tiny step and spring,’ he added.
‘But with what’s gone on, with the way the game moves and the press and the pace, is Kovacic going to play a through ball? No he hasn’t, he’s whipped it. All of that is going on in your mind.
‘What takes the top goalkeepers to the next level is no matter what position they’re in, they’re able to get there. And he was able to get there, that’s his unique style, but just the timing is not right.’
Maresca’s reign got off to a losing start on home soil (Picture: Getty)
Sanchez joined Chelsea from Brighton in a £20million move last summer and shared the gloves with Dorde Petrovic across the 2023/24 campaign.
The Blues strengthened between the sticks with the addition of Villarreal shot-stopper Filip Jorgensen, who put pen to paper on a seven-year deal in west London.
Speaking on Sky Sports after Chelsea’s loss, Jamie Redknapp suggested Maresca still lacked a ‘top striker’ and a ‘good goalkeeper’ despite the club spending in excess of £1.2billion on new recruits under Todd Boehly.
‘If Savinho had played for Chelsea today I think he would have found it really difficult, but he’s come into a Manchester City team that are just a well-oiled machine,’ Redknapp said.
‘He knows what he’s got to do, he knows his job. Pep had to change it, just to make that tactical tweak, and it’s much easier to play in a team when there’s a calmness and an assurance.
‘With this Chelsea team it’s like you’re throwing a bunch of strangers together and it’s very difficult to do that.
You’re bringing players off the bench, you’re trying to make things happen. It’s going to take a lot of time for Maresca to get them playing how he wants and find out what his best XI is.
‘They’ve spent £1.2billion and they still haven’t got a top striker and I’m not even sure they’ve got a good goalkeeper.
‘For all the money they’ve spent, they haven’t really filled two of the most important areas.’
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Chelsea news, exclusives and analysis
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.