Chris Sutton has shared one eye-catching thing he noticed about Manchester City striker Erling Haaland during his cameo against Burnley in midweek.
After spending a number of weeks out of action with an ankle injury, the 23-year-old made his return on Wednesday during the second half of City’s 3-1 win over Burnley at the Etihad Stadium.
Even though the Norwegian was only on the pitch for 20 minutes, this hasn’t stopped one pundit from sharing his thoughts on the centre-forward’s efforts.
Sutton drops verdict on Haaland return
Writing in his weekly column for BBC Sport where he previewed all of the weekend’s Premier League fixtures, Sutton had this to say about Haaland’s second-half appearance against Burnley on Wednesday.
He said: “City have got Haaland back from injury and even though he had his boots on the wrong feet against Burnley on Wednesday, it is just a matter of time before he is back among the goals.
“He reminded me a bit of my time at Chelsea, when I was like Bambi on ice in front of goal, but once he is back up to speed it is going to be a very different story.”
With 19 minutes under his belt against the Clarets, Haaland had eight touches of the ball in total and had two attempts at goal, one of which was blocked and the other off target.
The Manchester Evening News also picked up on how rusty the striker looked on his return to action by saying in their player ratings article after the game that he “looked hungry for a goal even if not that sharp.”
Taking into account how Haaland hadn’t played in a competitive game since early December, it’s only natural that he wouldn’t be at his best straight away.
However, if he can avoid any more injury issues for the rest of the season and start doing what he does best and score goals, he’ll give his side a great boost to their chances of regaining the Premier League title.
