Erling Haaland had a hand in Manchester City’s opening goal in Saturday’s 4-0 win over Bournemouth, holding up the ball and playing a give-and-go with Ilkay Gundogan who made no mistake with his finish.
The 22-year-old scored a brace on his debut too (2-0 win over West Ham United), tucking away a penalty he won and finishing calmly after being put through on goal.
Haaland now has two goals and one assist from two Premier League appearances and Gabriel Agbonlahor was critical of fans that doubted him after a disappointing Community Shield performance.
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He told Football Insider: “First of all, they were idiots calling him out after the Community Shield. He’s a top, top player. You know when someone is going to do it in the Premier League when they do it in the Champions League against Premier League teams. He looked a threat against Man City in the Champions League.
“He’s got all the attributes to do it in any league. He’s tall and quick. The acceleration and movement he showed for the penalty, his movement for the other goal was unstoppable. He’s going to destroy defences.”
Haaland scored 86 goals with 23 assists from 89 games at Borussia Dortmund and scored 20 goals with three assists from 21 games for Norway, so City have inherited one of the best strikers in Europe. The 22-year-old took little time to get off the mark at City and could be in for a prolific campaign with how well he tucked away both chances.
Haaland missed easy opportunities in July’s Community Shield defeat to Liverpool and many on social media said he could crumble under the pressure at City, but the centre-forward quickly silenced his nay-sayers.
In other news, it’s not been a dream start for Kalvin Phillips at Manchester City