EPL

Haaland takes over from Gabriel Jesus as Man City reveal new number nine

By Sports Desk July 09, 2022

Erling Haaland was confirmed as Manchester City's new number nine on Saturday, taking over from Gabriel Jesus after the Brazilian joined Arsenal.

The new recruit from Borussia Dortmund was already expected to lead City's attack in the new season, and now he has the symbolic number to go along with that responsibility.

Haaland, who turns 22 on July 21, has joined a City side who edged out Liverpool to land the Premier League title on the final day of last season.

There is good reason for the high expectations that surrounded his arrival. The Norwegian scored 86 goals in 89 appearances in all competitions during two and a half years at Dortmund, with only Robert Lewandowski (123 in 108 games) and Kylian Mbappe (93 in 111 games) from Europe's top five leagues scoring more in that time.

Last season, Haaland scored 29 goals in 30 games in all competitions at a rate of one goal every 3.6 attempts, and he put away 65.8 per cent of his big chances.

City reached the semi-final stage of the FA Cup and Champions League last season, alongside their Premier League success, playing for large parts of the season with a 'false nine' attacker, rather than the out-and-out centre forward that Haaland is.

Haaland is set to be ceremonially presented as a City player on Sunday, when the club stage an event with the striker and fellow new recruits, including former Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips and ex-River Plate forward Julian Alvarez.

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    Ronaldo scored either side of half-time as Al-Nassr teed up a final clash with Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Hilal, who beat Al-Ittihad 2-1 in the other semi-final on Tuesday.

    The former Real Madrid and Manchester United star took advantage of an error from opposing goalkeeper Ibrahim Sehic to open the scoring 17 minutes in, then tapped home at the second attempt to make it a double shortly before the hour mark.

    That goal could have made it a hat-trick for the Portugal star, but he passed up the chance to take a first-half penalty after Ivo Rodrigues handled in the area, Sadio Mane instead stepping up to blast his kick into the top corner. 

    Fawaz Al Terais was on target late on for Al-Khaleej, but that proved a mere consolation in a one-sided affair which saw Al-Nassr rack up 21 shots and 3.78 expected goals (xG), with their opponents managing just nine shots totalling 1.37 xG.

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    While Ronaldo's 43 touches were the fewest of any outfielder to start for Al-Nassr, he managed seven shots, five shots from inside the area and four dribbles – all game-high figures. 

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    The two European heavyweights shared a 2-2 draw in a pulsating first leg at the Allianz Arena, setting up a grandstand climax when the battle resumes at Santiago Bernabeu. 

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    "We always want to win, but we know that this competition is like that, you can't give away balls because teams score the chances they have," he said, as reported by Reuters.

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    Kane scored from the penalty spot to make it 2-1 to Bayern early in the second half, just four minutes after Leroy Sane had levelled with a thunderous finish at Allianz Arena.

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    Kane now has 401 goals for club and country, having moved past the quadruple-century mark with his double against Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.

    Including his well-taken penalty against Madrid, the former Tottenham striker now has a personal-best 43 goals in all competitions this season as well.

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