Manchester City have today beaten Sheffield United 2-1 to go top of the Premier League.
City were without manager Pep Guardiola who is recovering from back surgery – but the Spaniard was in constant contact with Juanma Lillo throughout the game.
City dominated the ball today as expected, and produced a plethora of chances against the newly promoted side.
Haaland missed a penalty in the first-half, and squandered several good opportunities.
But you always got the sense he wouldn’t be denied.
And midway through the second-half he finally broke the deadlock.
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Jack Grealish provided a lovely floated ball to the back post, and the Norwegian simply couldn’t miss.
But City would then concede a late goal to Jayden Bogle after some poor defensive work.
But champions never give in, and Rodri – so clutch so often for City – lashed in a winner to break Blades fans’ hearts.
Andy Hinchcliffe noticed Erling Haaland’s demeanor at half-time vs Sheffield United
On commentary today for Sky was Andy Hinchcliffe, who was watching Haaland closely at half-time.
Haaland had endured a really frustrating first-half, which of course included that penalty miss.
He said: “Erling Haaland came down the tunnel and out onto the pitch and he was shaking his head looking very angry. He means business, so those centre-halves better switch on.
Around 20 minutes later Haaland got his goal, and Hinchcliffe said: “He just has that belief. As I said, when he came out for the second-half he looked so angry, shaking his head. He was annoyed, he was ready to get to grips with this defence and he just knew he was going to keep trying, keep running and keep moving, getting into positions to score… no surprise he has.”
An off day for Haaland
The Norwegian did cut a very frustrating figure today at times, which was understandable.
He did get one goal, but he will be very disappointed this afternoon given how many he could have had.
But ultimately, the result was the most important thing. City could very easily have dropped points today.
At least he managed to get one goal, which shows his character after the penalty miss and so many other missed chances.