After Manchester City No.9 Erling Haaland made history against West Ham United, Pep Guardiola fired back at his early-season critics.
The £51.2 million (Eurosport) man broke Andy Cole and Alan Shearer’s record of 35 goals in a 42-game campaign in his debut term in the Premier League on Wednesday night.
While Manchester City hero Erling Haaland was lauded by fans and pundits alike after shattering another milestone against West Ham United, Pep Guardiola aimed a dig at his detractors.
Guardiola responds to Haaland critics after Manchester City beat West Ham
The 22-year-old received a guard of honour from his Sky Blues teammates after reaching 35 goals in the league.
The Norwegian talent did so in style, getting on the end of an inch-perfect Jack Grealish pass by expertly dinking the ball past Lukasz Fabianski.
As the brilliance of Erling Haaland was the talking point after Manchester City beat West Ham, Pep Guardiola bit back at his star striker’s doubters before the start of the season.
“When we lost against Liverpool in the Community Shield, I remember Erling Haaland wouldn’t adapt in the Premier League”, he said, as quoted by Manchester Evening News journalist Joe Bray.
MCN View: Pep Guardiola makes a brilliant point
While it is easy to hail the magnificence of Manchester City fan favourite Erling Haaland after he etched his name into the history books against West Ham, Pep Guardiola brings up an excellent reminder.
When Haaland missed a boatload of chances, including a sitter against Liverpool in the Community Shield, he was already written off by many.
Thinkpieces were written, jokes were made and questions were asked about whether the former Borussia Dortmund goalscorer was cut out for the Premier League at all.
Darwin Nunez, who has merely scored nine goals in the league was hailed as the superior striker and that was that.
While it is easy to claim that it is borderline unfair how good City have it with Haaland at their disposal, the discourse was the polar opposite during the curtain-raiser before the league campaign.
