Haaland was fit but luck did not smile on him as he missed many opportunities, including a header from 6 meters that saw the defending champions held to a draw by Chelsea in an exciting Premier League match on Etihad Stadium. 1 point is not the goal of Haaland and his teammates.
Man City had to wait until the 83rd minute for Rodri’s equalizer to salvage 1 point, after their old striker Raheem Sterling gave the London team a surprise lead from an attempt in the 43rd minute.
Faced with Haaland’s ungratefulness, Man City coach Guardiola shared: “It’s good that Haaland had 9 shots and next time he will score. I was a soccer player for 11 years and scored 11 goals. What does this statistic say? Only one goal per season. Therefore, I am not the right person to give advice to strikers like Haaland. The important thing is that we created many opportunities. Haaland has many shots and I believe he will score in the next match. I don’t blame Haaland. That’s football. That’s human.”
Meanwhile, super striker Haaland appeared disappointed at the end of the match. Haaland even angrily pushed the television camera away and did not want to say anything, during a difficult week for the Norwegian player after the death of his grandmother. Obviously missing too many opportunities is not Haaland’s habit.
The draw with Chelsea left third-place team Man City 4 points behind top team Liverpool and 2 points behind Arsenal, when these two teams both won in round 25 of the Premier League.
According to Pep Guardiola’s assessment, host Man City dominated the second half but felt they had to pay the price for their poor performance in the first half: “As a strong team, the first half was not similar to the usual way the players express themselves. We are Manchester City so we always have to know how to do something to win.
Not only Haaland, the players did not play well in the first half. In general, things improved after we conceded. When facing teams with composure and prestige like Chelsea, we need to play our best for 95 minutes.”
On the other side of the front line, Chelsea is having an unstable season, but coach Mauricio Pochettino feels that his students showed their true bravery against strong opponents: “The coaching staff tried very hard to prepare all plans for the match.” match, but football is always a game that belongs to the players. Chelsea players played well.
This is a really important match as we are in good form and improving. We are still not at Manchester City’s level but Chelsea’s goal is not to lose. This draw shows we are competitive.”