Pep proud and impressed by City’s flying start

Pep Guardiola said it’s a privilege to manage his City team after we kicked off the Premier League with a 2-0 victory away to Chelsea.

Preparations for the new campaign were impacted by the European Championship in the summer that saw much of the squad miss the pre-season tour to the United States.

England’s three players and Spain’s Rodrigo were not in the starting line-up for a difficult opener at Stamford Bridge.

But goals from Erling Haaland and Mateo Kovacic secured the three points and Guardiola was proud of his side’s performance.

“I am so impressed but not surprised,” he said. “That’s what I expect for this level and commitment.

“It’s such a privilege and honour to be manager of this club and players. To do this after winning so well and lack of preparation.

“The good news is we won; the bad news is we have 70 more games. We will prepare Ipswich and West Ham before the international break and after that we will have the team for the season.”

For the third season running, Haaland got our first goal of the season with a clinical finish past Chelsea keeper Roberto Sanchez.

The Norwegian striker was making his 100^th appearance for the Club, taking his tally to an incredible 91 goals as he begins his third season at the Etihad.

Haaland was one of the few players on the tour to the US and Guardiola says he is in good shape.

“I had the feeling that he feels better than last season at this stage,” the boss added.

“Always he felt tired but with the Euros not being there, he is rested and feels good.

“The goal was magnificent. They review the goal with Rico Lewis. His contribution was defensively and in midfield too.

“These are numbers like Messi and Ronaldo, that controlled everything in the last decade. His numbers are that level. To do that in this country is unbelievable.”

The City boss added that he told his players had to act like champions ahead of the game.

“If you are the best team in England for 38 games, you are going to defend the crown,” Guardiola said.

“We have to behave like we were, a champion team. Especially in the bad moments, I like to see that.

“I said we would have to suffer, this defines the best teams. In the bad moments, we were composed and we did it.”