Erling Haaland, the Norwegian Vikings occupied the superstar livery at the Etihad Stadium after penned down his contract following a move from the German side Borussia Dortmund to English giant Manchester City.
Haaland has 22 goals and 3 assists already in the current Premier League campaign, which equals the previous season’s golden boot winner Mo. Salah and Heung Min Son’s tally at a blistering pace after playing just half the matches and he is netting goals at a rate that no one saw coming ever before.
At the halfway stage of his debut Premier League season, Erling Haaland's 22 goals would have already won him the Golden Boot in seven past seasons 𤯠pic.twitter.com/VhAXTcCL3b
— B/R Football (@brfootball) January 19, 2023
However, Haaland went goalless for three straight games before netting against the Spurs to raise questions from the critics and Pep Guardiola has something to be concerned about while the Spaniard took all the responsibilities on his shoulder.
“Maybe we need to find him a little bit more in the final third. He dropped deep, knowing [Luke] Shaw or [Raphael] Varane would follow him”- Guardiola said after the Man United loss.
Man Utd now sit just one point behind local rivals Man City in the Premier League table đ
They've lost just one of their last 19 games in all competitions… đ pic.twitter.com/JQmQXikE1r
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) January 14, 2023
Clearly, Manchester City players are feeling the effect of a hectic World Cup schedule where 16 of the Citizens were in participation which is only bettered by Barcelona, and the Premier League champion needs to find the hold of the key after several poor outings.
“Haaland was forced to drop deep because his players werenât giving him those balls to run at. On several occasions, Haaland makes the run but we decide to pass back. We had a lot of clear-cut chances to make Haaland work but we didnât and that is our fault. We got what we asked for.”- Pep has spoken.
Erling Haaland has now scored 22 Premier League goals, the most of any player in a single Premier League campaign under Pep Guardiola.
Another record in the book. đ¤ pic.twitter.com/6gKJ9qtjYr
— Squawka (@Squawka) January 19, 2023
A loss to the local rival put Man City in a spot of bother and the title hope is fading a bit as the day progresses. The city has had four PL titles in the last five years and to emulate the display, they need to find the feet of Erling Haaland quite often.
âWe have played really well with Erling Haaland. To play better, provide balls to him as much as possible.â- Guardiola finished his press conference.
