'A bit s*** to be honest' - Erling Haaland disappointed not to score hat-trick in Man City win over West Ham
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Updated 07/08/2022 at 20:26 GMT
Erling Haaland scored both goals in Manchester City's 2-0 win over West Ham at the London Stadium, but the Norway international was disappointed not to have scored a hat-trick after heading Ilkay Gundogan’s cross wide. “It’s a bit s*** to be honest,” a dejected Haaland said afterwards. However, he was delighted to have his father Alfie watching on from the stands.
'If someone were to take the ball he would punch' - Guardiola hails Haaland's PL debut
Erling Haaland may have got off to a flyer on his Premier League debut, scoring both goals in Manchester City’s 2-0 win over West Ham, but the Norway international was disappointed he wasn’t able to grab a hat-trick.
The 22-year-old opened the scoring from the penalty spot nine minutes before half-time and killed the game off with a well-taken low finish after running onto Kevin De Bruyne’s through-ball in the 65th-minute.
Haaland, however, felt he could have netted a treble after heading Ilkay Gundogan’s cross wide.
“It’s a bit s*** to be honest,” Haaland told Sky Sports.
When asked to mind his language, Haaland responded: “Oh s***, sorry!”
The striker, who was signed from Borussia Dortmund for a reported fee of £51.2m, believes there is still more to come.
“Now it’s almost 30 minutes since I scored my last goal so I have to keep going,” he said.
“It was a good start. It was good to get some minutes in the legs, it’s still early in the season and yeah, we have to keep going.
“It was as expected, we saw the potential already against Bayern [Munich] and against Liverpool it was a little bit down. But it will come with games.
“It’s about the connections we do every day in training, practicing this so we get better at this. This will come even more so I’m not worried.”
On his father Alfie’s presence at the London Stadium, Haaland said: “It’s a big moment for me. It’s a debut in this competition so yeah, we have to keep going.”
While Man City manager Pep Guardiola was delighted with Haaland’s performance, he also sounded a note of caution.
He said: “One week ago when he missed the chance that we had he was being called a failure. People were saying he's not going to adapt to the Premier League and everyone laughed at him.
“Now he's being compared to Thierry Henry and Cristiano Ronaldo. Take time. It's his first Premier League game. He's 22-years old. He has a long career and when he's going to retire we will analyse what he has done. Be calm.”
Guardiola added: “What he gives us is his qualities. The way we are going to play we are not going to change much. We are going to adapt. We know now we have a threat there so it's incredible as a deep runner and a good finisher.
"I would say that he is adapting perfectly in the way we are going to play. Hopefully we can give him the opportunity to score goals.”
Former Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane believes that Haaland gives City a "different option" and says his movement is similar to Cristiano Ronaldo.
He added: "City’s passing and the way they wore West Ham down, who are no mugs. They toyed with them. But even when teams push up, Haaland will threaten in behind now. It’s going to be a different challenge for defenders now with Haaland running in behind. West Ham didn’t cope.
"Haaland is like Ronaldo with his darting runs. He doesn’t want to get too involved with the build-up but when it comes in the box he’s alive. In this City team, he’s capable of smashing records."
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