Manchester City’s players, staff and supporters have had to endure a tough few weeks.
After being knocked out of the Carabao Cup, City have then gone on to lose two consecutive Premier League matches and get given their first Champions League defeat of the campaign.
Prior to last weekend’s 2-1 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion, Bernardo Silva said City are in a “dark place” in terms of their form.
Following that Pep Guardiola admitted City needed the international break to arrive when it did to give his side the chance to refresh and reset.
Now that a handful of City’s squad members have been in action for their countries, one in particular, has delivered the type of performance that should have Guardiola smiling from ear to ear.
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Erling Haaland delivers star performance for Norway
On Thursday night, Erling Haaland started and completed 87 minutes of Norway’s 4-1 win over Slovenia in their latest Nations League match.
With the score at 1-1, the City striker scored to put his side ahead just before halftime. Five minutes before he was subbed off for Wolves striker Jorgen Strand Larsen, Haaland provided the assist for Norway’s fourth goal of the game.
This display ultimately earned the 24-year-old an overall match rating of 8.7/10 from SofaScore, making him the second-highest-rated Norway player on the night.
Guardiola will be delighted with Haaland’s attacking power
While Guardiola and everyone else at City is no stranger to seeing Haaland find the back of the net, creating chances for his teammates is not something that gets seen very often.
For instance, with 114 appearances for City under his belt, the £51m striker has only racked up 14 assists. In addition to that, he’s only made five key passes in the Premier League this season despite playing more minutes (989) than any other outfield player at the club.
Now that he has grabbed an assist and made two key passes in his latest appearance for Norway, it should please Guardiola to see that his star striker has shown his creative talents as well as his usual deadliness in front of goal.
