Striker Erling Haaland scored the only goal to help Man City defeat Brentford 1-0 in the Premier League match. According to coach Pep Guardiola, this is a strong answer from the Norwegian striker.
“Top strikers often score a lot of goals. Don’t criticize that he doesn’t know how to score. Haaland has silenced his critics,” coach Pep Guardiola emphasized in the post-match press conference. fight.
Haaland was criticized a lot for missing scoring opportunities in Man City’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea on February 18. This striker was also criticized by football commentators in the English Premier League, saying that his form had dropped a lot after 2 months off due to injury.
“Few people know that Haaland had a difficult week. His grandmother passed away, but he still endured the loss to play. This is not easy for a person. . Haaland is not in the best condition. But he is gradually overcoming it. In difficult matches like against Brentford, you need to have players like Haaland, who will score the most important goals to change the situation. face the match,” coach Pep Guardiola shared.
With the only goal scored against Brentford in the 71st minute, Haaland set a record of scoring against every opponent among the 21 Premier League teams he has ever faced. This is also Haaland’s 22nd goal this season after 28 matches, including 17 goals scored in the Premier League.
The win helped Man City rise to second place in the Premier League, 1 point behind top team Liverpool (56 vs 57), pushing Arsenal to 3rd place (55 points).
“Overcoming teams like Brentford is not easy at all. Last season, we lost 6 points to them after losing both matches. So, this victory has helped Man City regain a lot of motivation. We I will push harder for the championship race against Liverpool and Arsenal,” coach Pep Guardiola expressed.
The Spanish coach of “Green Man” also explained that midfielder Kevin De Bruyne did not play due to “hamstring problems”. But this is just a caution, this star will return to play this weekend when Man City away to Bournemouth at 0:30 on February 25 in round 26 of the Premier League.