Man City boss Pep Guardiola praises ‘fantastic player’ Erling Haaland again, after another record
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Manchester City's Erling Haaland celebrating after the 3-2 victory over RB Leipzig in the Champions League.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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LONDON – Yet another record on Erling Haaland’s bulging CV had his Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola sounding on Nov 28 – tongue-in-cheek – like he was growing tired of answering questions about his prolific scorer.
The 23-year-old became the fastest to score 40 Champions League goals with his strike in the 54th minute that sparked City's 3-2 comeback victory
Three days earlier, the Norwegian hotshot had become the fastest, in 48 games, to net 50 English Premier League goals in a 1-1 draw with Liverpool, also at the Etihad Stadium.
“Again? I have to tell you again?” Guardiola said with a laugh, when asked for comment.
“A thousand million times, I’m really impressed. My players won today. Another record (for Haaland). Congratulations. He’s a fantastic player. I tell you many times, we’re really, really pleased.
“We love him, not just for the goals he scores, but for many many other things.”
It took Haaland just 35 matches to reach 40 goals, smashing former Manchester United and Real Madrid striker Ruud van Nistelrooy’s mark of 45 games.
But more importantly for Guardiola, it kick-started City's comeback after a woefully sluggish first half left them trailing by two goals for the first time in a Champions League game since 2018.
Lois Openda pounced on City defensive blunders for both Leipzig goals, first sprinting onto a long ball from goalkeeper Janis Blaswich that bounced over a lackadaisical Manuel Akanji in the 13th minute. He struck again with seemingly similar ease in the 33rd, spinning around Ruben Dias en route to scoring.
Haaland and Phil Foden netted in the second period, before Julian Alvarez clinched the win in the 87th minute.
“First half was the worst I’ve seen us,” Foden said. “Courage and motivation changed it around. This team has great mentality and it’s so nice to see.”
Guardiola said he hoped his players would learn from the roller-coaster game.
“To win in that game not comfortably, we have to realise and say we have to do better,” he said.
“But February (the round of 16) we’ll be there top of the group, I don’t know who we’re going to face but the second leg will be (at home), and we showed again that we are able to make a comeback.”
Off the pitch, City took a different route to the Etihad for the game at Guardiola's request. The manager wanted his team to see the trinity statue of Colin Bell, Francis Lee and Mike Summerbee that was unveiled earlier in the day.
“I encouraged the club to drop us, the bus, there and we can walk,” he said. “So another gesture for the three important (players in the club’s history), really really nice.” REUTERS, AFP
