Haaland ending goal drought another ominous sign for Man City rivals،
MANCHESTER, England – It's a hallmark of Manchester City's relentlessness that there always seems to be someone ready to step up.
Last month, Oscar Bobb scored a stoppage-time winner at Newcastle United and Nathan Aké scored a late goal at Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup. Julián Álvarez scored twice against Burnley in the Premier League. At Brentford on Monday, Phil Foden got three.
Invariably last season, City's match-winner was Erling Haaland, but during his absence nursing a broken foot, manager Pep Guardiola found other players willing to take on the responsibility of continuing their quest for more trophies.
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Now, however, Haaland is back and against Everton at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, normal service has resumed. The Norwegian striker scored both goals in City's 2-0 win and, for at least a few hours, returned to the top of the Premier League table.
“I can't imagine him being stopped for two months, moving this huge body and being fit again, but he's back,” Guardiola said after the match. “I think he will help us. The first goal was a bit careless but the finish was incredible and the second goal was amazing too. It's really important for us to have Erling with us.”
City have never been at their best, but the return of Haaland's name on the scoresheet will be enough to worry the rest of the league. Their first half came down to the final minute of the 45th minute when Alvarez robbed James Tarkowski on the left and looked up to see Haaland alone in the center. But the Argentine's pass was rushed and pushed too close to Jordan Pickford, who collected it easily and received a grateful nod from Tarkowski. It should have been a goal but – like most of the first half – City were not on the same page and went down the tunnel at half-time at 0-0.
Haaland only managed 12 touches in the first half and you can imagine that when Everton manager Sean Dyche came down from the directors' box (as he is serving a touchline ban) to the dressing room at the break, he would have congratulated his team for half-time. a job well done. But part of the problem with playing City is that to get a good result you often have to get everything right and a mistake at any time can be punished mercilessly.
“Very nice defensively for a lot of the game,” Dyche said afterwards. “I think they only had three shots on target, which is unusual. [Haaland] doesn't have many touches in some games but he scores. That’s why he is who he is and does what he does.”
Everton got away with Tarkowski's error, but then failed to deal with a corner from the right midway through the second half, and a right-footed rocket from Haaland made it 1- 0. It was Haaland's first goal since his strike against RB Leipzig on November 28 and ended his longest goalless streak in the Premier League after failing to find the net in his last four games in the competition .
He didn't have to wait long for another one. Kevin De Bruyne, on as a substitute, launched a pass forward, allowing Haaland to bring Jarrad Branthwaite to the ground and roll his finish into the far corner.
Two typical Haaland goals and, in the end, a very typical City victory. It's now 10 in a row in all competitions and despite all the talk of a three-way title race with Liverpool and Arsenal, it still feels like Guardiola's side are very much in control.
“I know the team, I see them every day, my opinion is that they are fresher and better and are not affected by the fact that we are losing games,” said the City manager. “They continue to be there. With Erling and Kevin we are stronger, that's obvious, when a team loses consistency we have to worry about how they train, behave and race. When it happens, the team is alive and I have never been concerned. Since day one, I have not had [a bad] feeling.
“The team this season in difficulties takes a step forward, coming back from losing positions. I like to win this type of match. The environment of the team, the feeling of the team from the first day of this season, I said, 'OK, I like that.'”
City have scored 39 times in 14 games between Haaland's goals against Leipzig and Everton, proving that, if necessary, they can do it without their No.9. But with the 23-year-old back among the goals, they look more formidable than ever as they head into the part of the season where they are traditionally at their best.
Everton found that just as City and Haaland found their rhythm, the game disappeared very quickly. The worry for Liverpool, Arsenal and other challengers is that the same could well be true for the title.
