Erling Haaland's records are good for Man City, says Pep Guardiola

LONDON – Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola praised his goal machine Erling Haaland on Saturday, saying that the striker’s record-breaking achievements are good for the team.

The Norwegian scored twice in City’s 3-1 win over beleaguered Leicester City to equal Mohamed Salah’s record tally of 32 goals in a 38-game Premier League season.

“I want, I desire, that he can break all the records as possible,” Guardiola said.

“That means he’s scored a lot of goals, that means that helps us. I think he wants to win the titles, to be there, and still we are there.

“It’s impressive, (we) still have to play eight games and he’s close to breaking all of them.”

Haaland, in his maiden Premier League season, could obliterate the record in the remaining matches.

The 22-year-old also claimed the English football single-season scoring record in all competitions when he got his 45th goal last Tuesday in

City’s 3-0 Champions League quarter-final, first-leg win over Bayern Munich.

He increased that to 47 on Saturday before Guardiola took him off at half-time, with the second leg against Bayern looming on Wednesday.

The popular player lingered long on the Etihad pitch after the final whistle however, waving and smiling at fans.

Guardiola added that Haaland’s response to sitting out the second half was “excellent as always”, pointing out that his star striker was coming off a groin injury.

“You see his body language, his face during the game. He’s like John (Stones), John and him come back from injuries... and after 45 minutes, (it) was good for them to rest.

“We made subs to make players rest but we lost some control, though in general it was a deserved victory,” he said.

Stones scored City’s other goal, a left-footed rocket from 20 metres, while Kelechi Iheanacho netted for Leicester.

Kevin de Bruyne now has 101 Premier League assists after a beautiful set-up for Haaland’s second goal, making him only the fifth player to pass the 100 mark.

With the win, City are hot on the heels of leaders Arsenal in their chase for the Premier League title.

The two contenders square off in what should be a thriller at the Etihad Stadium on April 26, with Guardiola aware of how hard his team must fight in the remaining games.

“It’s win, win and win,” he said. “(Arsenal) have done an incredible run of the season so far and I don’t think they’re going to drop much points.”

At the bottom end, Dean Smith was taking charge of 19th-placed Leicester for the first time.

“There’s lots we can take. I’m obviously disappointed but a two-goal deficit to the best team in the world isn’t the end of the world,” said the former Aston Villa and Norwich City manager, who was appointed Leicester boss last week until the end of the season.

“Our season won’t be defined here, we have a run of games where we have to win matches.”
REUTERS, AFP