Pep Guardiola praised Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez after Manchester City’s win against Fulham on Sunday, and the latest data suggests he was right to do so.
Haaland and Alvarez both scored in City’s 2-1 win away at Fulham, a result that moved Guardiola’s side to the top of the Premier League table.
It took just three minutes for Haaland to open the scoring with his 34th league goal of the season, the Norwegian converting from the penalty spot after Alvarez had been fouled.
After the hosts hit back ten minutes later, Alvarez restored City’s advantage with a venomous strike that wouldn’t look out of place in a Sergio Aguero highlight reel.
The Argentine – who came into the City line up in place of the injured Kevin de Bruyne – collected the ball 25 yards out before unleashing a dipping shot that sailed into the top corner of Bernd Leno’s goal.
City’s strikers are the best around
City were not at their best at Craven Cottage, but thanks to their two lethal strikers they got the job done.
Speaking after the match, Guardiola said of Alvarez: “He made the penalty, not just the goal. Every time he plays it’s massive. Today the goal was extraordinary. We have incredible strikers honestly.”
It doesn’t take a genius to realise that City have two excellent strikers in their squad.
Haaland has now equalled the Premier League record for goals scored in a single season, while in all competitions he has scored a remarkable 50 goals in 44 appearances.
While Alvarez’s return of 15 goals in 42 matches is more modest, a new statistic has emerged that suggests City have two of the best strikers around.
As reported by Mail Sport, of all Premier League players with more than ten starts in all competitions this season, Erling Haaland (67%) is the only player who has scored in a higher percentage of his starts than Julian Alvarez (61%).
It’s an astonishing figure that shows that although Alvarez doesn’t start as many games as he would like to, when he gets his chance he makes the most of it.
