Former Celtic manager Neil Lennon was full of praise for Manchester City number nine Erling Haaland after his heroics against Everton.
Haaland got on the scoresheet for the first time in the Premier League since scoring against Tottenham Hotspur in December after having recently returned from a lengthy injury spell.
The Manchester City hitman bagged a devastating brace in his side’s 2-0 win during his second start since his recent return to the pitch.
Neil Lennon hails “special” Erling Haaland after Manchester City beat Everton
On a day when Pep Guardiola’s men were struggling to create any chances, it seemed like despite the presence of Erling Haaland in their team, it may well not matter in their quest for victory.
Ultimately, some might question if there is any benefit of having an elite goalscorer in one’s ranks if the team carves out little to no chances for him.
But as usual, Erling Haaland demolished such notions as he was in the right place at the right time for Manchester City to punish Everton with a pair of well-taken goals, as Neil Lennon went on to laud him.
“That man, he’s back and he scores two brilliant goals, didn’t see much of the ball in the game but that doesn’t worry him. He is special and he is a difference today and it’s a massive win for City”, he said on Manchester City’s post-match show (via YouTube).
“The first goal’s an incredible finish because he’s read where the ball’s going to go, he backs off a little bit and then his technique, he smashes it in. And that was the ice-breaker, if you want to call it that because it was tense up until then. City hadn’t played badly but they were finding it difficult to break Everton down.”
“The goal changes it, it means Everton have to come out and then you saw on the counter-attack on the second goal, you see the brilliance of [Kevin] De Bruyne and [Erling] Haaland again.”
As long as Erling Haaland starts, Pep Guardiola and Co. can never be counted out
As Neil Lennon rightly said after Manchester City defeated Everton; Erling Haaland is indeed a “special” player.
Haaland’s presence also likely puts opposition managers in a conundrum.
Most teams would rather sit off and absorb pressure but the Leeds-born striker tends to provide space for his teammates to score and create, as was evidenced by how much space Phil Foden had to bag his hat-trick against Brentford.
Then again, if teams try to take the game to City, they could well be ripped apart on the break, as De Bruyne and Haaland did on Saturday.
Erling Haaland is a multi-dimensional attacking weapon and his presence ensures that counting Manchester City out in any game is a dangerous game to play.
