Manchester City have picked up from where they left off last season by brushing aside Chelsea 2-0 at Wembley Stadium to win the 2018 Community Shield.
Three months on from lifting the Premier League title, the Citizens made light work of the FA Cup holders thanks to a goal in either half from Sergio Aguero.
There was a gulf in quality between the sides, with City cruising to victory to win the curtain-raising fixture for a fifth time - and a first since 2012 when beating Chelsea at Villa Park.
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Man City looked far closer to full strength this afternoon compared to their previous three friendlies in this disjointed pre-season, welcoming back the likes of Kyle Walker, John Stones, Fernandinho and matchwinner Aguero from the off.
Despite a number of their players running out for the first time this summer, it was the Citizens who settled the quickest.
One of the returning players in Aguero made the most of some space right on the edge of the opposition box, tucking the ball out of Willy Caballero's reach following some good build-up play from Phil Foden for the first of his goals.
After reaching 200 goals in a City shirt, Aguero came close to extending his tally as he capitalised on some slack defending and sent a shot straight at compatriot Caballero.
Chelsea, four games into their summer programme, did grow into the first half and finally managed to create shooting chances more than 30 minutes in.
Alvaro Morata was wayward with his intended curler, and Callum Hudson-Odoi did not fare much better as he also picked out the stands rather than the net.
Pre-season star Hudson-Odoi came closer before the half was out, though, making better contact with his next shot which Claudio Bravo could only parry.
Forced into a half-time change, with Ilkay Gundogan on for the injured Leroy Sane, City soon found their rhythm and could have been out of sight.
Aguero raced clear and dragged his shot wide of the post, before picking out the side-netting from a tight angle after rounding Caballero.
Foden was next to come close with his on-target effort, five minutes before City's inevitable second of the afternoon from Aguero, this time slotting the ball past Caballero from closer range once slipped through by Bernardo Silva.
Aguero was kept on the field until the final 10 minutes despite the introduction of Gabriel Jesus, and the Argentina international nearly completed his hat-trick with a back-post volley that was too close to Caballero.
Substitute Brahim Diaz skipped past Marcos Alonso and fired into the side-netting, before going on to test Caballero twice more in the remainder, and the Argentine stopper also had to be alert to keep out Jesus's late strike.
MANCHESTER CITY (4-3-3): Bravo; Walker, Stones (Gomes 95'), Laporte (Otamendi 87'), Mendy; Fernandinho, Foden (Diaz 75'), Bernardo; Mahrez (Jesus 68'), Sane (Gundogan 46'), Aguero (Kompany 80')
CHELSEA (4-3-3): Caballero; Azpilicueta, Rudiger, David Luiz, Alonso; Jorginho, Fabregas (Drinkwater 60'), Barkley; Pedro (Moses 80'), Morata (Abraham 69'), Hudson-Odoi (Willian 60')
Daniel Lewis
