Erling Haaland made his long-awaited return to action for Man City on Saturday afternoon.
The Norwegian star started in the Manchester club’s Premier League clash with Southampton for the first time since picking up an ankle injury against Bournemouth in March, after Pep Guardiola hinted that Haaland would be in his first 11 on Friday.
The contest against the Saints was not what the 24-year-old was hoping for, as not only did he fail to have an impact on the game, but Man City would drop points to the Premier League’s bottom club, which could have a big impact on their hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League.
Guardiola needed to start Haaland for the striker to build up his sharpness ahead of next weekend’s FA Cup final, but after the Southampton match, the City boss admitted that the Norwegian star is not able to do something Phil Foden can.
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Erling Haaland can’t regain fitness as fast as Phil Foden
The dream scenario for Guardiola on Saturday would have been to take Haaland off after 60 minutes with the Norwegian already having a goal or two to his name against Southampton.
However, that was far from what played out, as Haaland played the entire match in search of a winning goal and after the contest, Guardiola provided an update on the 24-year-old’s fitness.
“He’s been four, five weeks off! Today he played 97 minutes,” Guardiola told BBC Radio Manchester for their show Manchester Total Sport: Post-Match.
“He’s not a player like Phil who needs only few training sessions to be fit, he moves his body and needs rhythm. But we have three games and go for it.”
Haaland is expected to start once again in the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace next weekend after the Man City star said he is ready to go for the Wembley showpiece.
Playing 97 minutes was not the plan for the striker, Guardiola said after the Southampton clash, with the Man City boss also criticising the Saints for the way they played.
Pep Guardiola unhappy with Southampton’s time-wasting
Man City have no one to blame but themselves for their 0-0 draw with Southampton, as Guardiola’s men looked uninterested and unthreatening throughout the 90 minutes at St Mary’s Stadium, with fans unimpressed with Jeremy Doku not starting the game.
It remains to be seen if this will cost them, but after the game, the Man City boss was not happy with the Saints’ time-wasting antics.
“Difficult. We had chances, but unfortunately couldn’t score. [Southampton were] playing to defend and defend and defend and waste time. We take that point still, it’s in our hands,” Guardiola told BBC Sport.
“Didn’t expect them to defend so deep. Defensively, we were so good, but unfortunately we missed the last actions.
“He [Erling Haaland] didn’t expect to play as many minutes, but the way the game was played, we needed people in the box. That point was really important.
“It’s frustrating to play against a team like them. They don’t even try to play, just wasting time the whole game.”
