Manager Pep Guardiola has hailed Erling Haaland’s resilience after Manchester City’s 1-0 Premier League win against Crystal Palace on Saturday (11 March).
The Norway international took five shots against the Eagles but managed to convert just one of them. He scored from the spot 12 minutes from time to hand his time an important win in the title race.
This was Haaland’s third goal in his last nine games across competitions – a subpar run as compared to how he started the campaign. He netted 21 times in his first 15 Premier League matches.
The former Borussia Dortmund centre-forward’s ability to shrug off missed opportunities seems to have impressed Guardiola. Speaking after the game, the Spanish tactician stated (h/t Manchester Evening News):
“One of his biggest attributes I discovered and knowing him working together is the fact that he never lose his… he can miss one chance and he never gets depressed, he isn’t sad.
He added:
“He’s always thinking positive, the next one, he knows he’ll have the chance and he’ll be there. This is an incredible attribute for a football player.”
Along with being resilient, Haaland is also patient. He was barely involved in Manchester City’s build-up play and made just six of his team’s 532 accurate passes in the game.
Nevertheless, he made the telling contribution to take his team to within two points of league-leaders Arsenal. The Gunners, however, have a game in hand and could restore their five-point lead with a win against Fulham on Sunday (12 March).
Erling Haaland gives verdict on Manchester City’s win vs Crystal Palace
Erling Haaland has stated that he wasn’t concerned by Crystal Palace’s defensive approach against Manchester City.
The Eagles managed no shots on target and kept just 32% of possession throughout the game at Selhurst Park. Despite the game being goalless until the 78th minute, Haaland kept his focus and fired his team to their fourth win in a row across competitions.
The 22-year-old said after the game (h/t Manchester Evening News):
“I wasn’t concerned. As I do every game, I had to try to focus on my game. Last game vs these we were 2-0 down, today we were 0-0. We had to keep going, it wasn’t easy. It’s okay [playing against defensive sides], we have to play different ways. People adapt to us how we, Man City, play.”
Crystal Palace led 2-0 until the 53rd minute against Manchester City at the Etihad when the two teams met in the league in August. The Cityzens went on to win the game 4-2, with Haaland scoring a hat-trick.
Source: sportskeeda.com
