EPL

Guardiola not taking credit for 'nice guy' Haaland's lethal Man City start

By Sports Desk September 16, 2022

Pep Guardiola said Manchester City did not have to "add many things" to Erling Haaland's game following his arrival from Borussia Dortmund, describing the in-form Norwegian as an "exceptional striker".

Haaland won the Premier League's Player of the Month award for August on Friday, having scored an incredible nine goals during his first calendar month in the competition.

The Norwegian has continued his goalscoring exploits in September, downing Sevilla with a Champions League double before haunting his former club Dortmund with a spectacular acrobatic finish as City beat the German side on Wednesday.

Having scored in City's last Premier League outing at Aston Villa, Haaland could become the first player in the competition's history to net on each of his first four away appearances when he lines up at Wolves on Saturday.

Asked whether 22-year-old Haaland is already the perfect forward, Guardiola said: "He's an exceptional striker, I said many times.

"But the age he is, I think his ambition is he wants to be better, and he will be better. He's a perfect person, a nice guy, this is the most important.

"With the quality he had before he came here, he has just continued to do what he has done. We didn't add many things."

Since losing both of their league meetings with Wolves in the 2019-20 season, City have won each of the teams' last four head-to-head fixtures by an aggregate score of 13-3.

Although Wolves have managed just one win from their first six games of this campaign, Guardiola is impressed by Bruno Lage's attempts to move them towards a more possession-based style of play, and expects a tough challenge.

"It's a completely different team than it was the previous seasons, they played five at the back with [Conor] Coady, now they decide to play with four," Guardiola said.

"I'm really impressed by the way they play, their position in the table is because football is unpredictable and sometimes you don't get what you deserve. They have a lot, a lot, of good things.

"They are one of the toughest opponents we've faced in the last seasons, and tomorrow will not be an exception. We had less recovery, so we have to be mentally prepared. Otherwise, it will be difficult.

"Give credit because what I've seen is completely different to previous seasons, [they would] sit back, just defend, have that transition with Adama [Traore], [Pedro] Neto.

"They still have that, but they added a completely different approach to the past. I respect Wolves a lot for what happened in the past but especially now for what they are trying to do."

City could be the first team to face Diego Costa since his return to the Premier League, with Lage revealing on Friday he hoped to have the former Chelsea striker available.

Asked about the potential presence of the fiery forward, Guardiola said: "Diego Costa has had an incredible career here and in Spain, we know his quality. We'll adapt in case he'll play."

Guardiola refused to be drawn on the debate surrounding a prospective Premier League all-star match, the idea that was suggested by Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly this week.

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp declared fans would not want to see that particular addition, but Guardiola would not join him in criticising the idea.

"I don't have an opinion, not at all," Guardiola said. "If they give me the dates they will play, it should be nice. But I don't have an opinion."

Related items

  • Tottenham 4-1 Aston Villa: Solanke at the double as Spurs come from behind once more Tottenham 4-1 Aston Villa: Solanke at the double as Spurs come from behind once more

    Dominic Solanke scored twice as Tottenham got back to winning ways in the Premier League, coming from behind to beat Aston Villa 4-1.

    Spurs bounced back from last weekend's 1-0 defeat at Crystal Palace, with four second-half goals turning the contest completely on its head at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

    Villa had broken the deadlock just after the half-hour mark when Morgan Rogers prodded home after Guglielmo Vicario parried John McGinn's deflected corner straight into his path.

    However, Brennan Johnson levelled within four minutes of the restart, the Wales international turning in Heung-min Son's inviting cross at the far post.

    The hosts then completed the turnaround in the final quarter of an hour, with Solanke rounding off two neat moves in the space of four minutes.

    Substitute James Maddison put some gloss on the scoreline when he curled home a delightful stoppage-time free-kick, as Villa's seven-match unbeaten streak came to an abrupt end.

    Data Debrief: Spurs come from behind once more

    Tottenham fell behind as they conceded the opening goal of a Premier League home game for the 12th time in 2024, more than any other side.

    However, they hit back as Solanke's brace made him the first Spurs player to score at least four goals across his first eight Premier League appearances for the club since Rafael van der Vaart in 2010-11.

    The former Bournemouth forward has now scored more Premier League goals against Unai Emery's Villa than any other player, doing so four times in as many appearances against them.

    Spurs have now won eight home Premier League games in 2024 after conceding the opening goal, matching Newcastle United in 2002 for the joint-most by a single team in a calendar year.

  • Wolves boss O’Neil unfazed by fan criticism after Palace draw Wolves boss O’Neil unfazed by fan criticism after Palace draw

    Wolves head coach Gary O’Neil was unfazed by supporter criticism after his team saw their winless start to the season continue with Saturday’s 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace.

    Marc Guehi netted a late equaliser as Palace took a point at Molineux, where Wolves had previously been on course for victory after fighting back from 1-0 down to lead 2-1.

    O’Neil’s side have now earned just three points from 10 matches, failing to win any of their first 10 games to start a league campaign for just the third time after 1926-27 (10 games) and 1983-84 (14).  

    O’Neil responded to Trevoh Chalobah putting Palace ahead on the hour mark with a triple substitution, introducing Mario Lemina, Goncalo Guedes and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde.

    Though the former duo impressed after coming on, supporters loudly booed O’Neil’s decision to replace midfielder Tommy Doyle, as speculation regarding his future continues to mount.

    Asked about supporter discontent after the game, O’Neil said: “I’m fine, it’s my job. The three substitutes made a big difference, I thought we were excellent from then.

    “They can voice their opinions, of course, it’s my job. Mario made us an awful lot better, he snuffed out so many balls and turned them into attacking situations for us.

    “We need to be better, of course. A lot of it ends up being my responsibility, which I’m happy to take. Criticism around subs, goals can land on my doorstep, that’s what I’m here for.”

    O’Neil then added: “I’m disappointed because it was a really brave fightback to spin the game from 1-0 down to 2-1 up, it took a lot of effort.

    “Disappointed because having worked so hard to get in front, once we got in front I thought we had a good chance of seeing it out.

    “I thought we’d have to defend a couple of moments but not be under any sort of siege, so we’re disappointed we came up short with one.”

    Palace have now won more points from their last two matches (four) than they did through their first eight of 2024-25 (three), but boss Oliver Glasner was frustrated that they failed to put Wolves away when 1-0 up.

    “It was our third game in six days with a very tight squad. The only thing we can blame ourselves is for not deciding the game when we could’ve done,” he said.

    “We had the momentum with the crowd booing, this is what we could and should have done better. All of a sudden Wolves went 2-1 up and then it was back to the players who reacted, they came back again and what makes me proud is we went for the win.”

  • Rodgers delighted as Celtic rout Aberdeen in semi-final Rodgers delighted as Celtic rout Aberdeen in semi-final

    Celtic booked their place in the Scottish League Cup final after hammering Aberdeen 6-0 at Hampden Park on Saturday.

    The 21-time winners of the tournament were inspired by a Daizen Maeda hat-trick in a near-perfect performance against the Scottish Premiership's second-placed side.

    Manager Brendan Rodgers was delighted with the result and performance from his side.

    "It was a testament to our players and the demands they have. They play every week in big games. We have to manage this group through every game," he told Premier Sports.

    "It was up to us to decide the game and the players did that. They were brilliant today. We were more aggressive in the second half.

    "Aberdeen have had an excellent season, they will continue to work well I'm sure."

    The result was Aberdeen's first defeat in 17 matches in all competitions this season, with a 2-2 draw at Celtic Park last month the only time they had previously failed to win.

    Cameron Carter-Vickers got the scoring under way with a header 29 minutes in, before the brilliant Maeda sat down goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov to set up Kyogo Furuhashi for a second three minutes later.

    Maeda then got in on the act himself on 40 minutes before the game briefly descended into farce on the stroke of half-time, with Rodgers shown a yellow card for kicking away a ball that had gone out before slipping over.

    "To be fair, I was raging because we had given the ball away," he said.

    "I have my moments, like every manager. It was just the game, even though we were comfortable at 3-0.

    "It was a deserved yellow card. The speed of the ball [was the issue]. I just wanted to keep the tempo of the game."

    Celtic and Maeda picked up where they left off in the second half to make it 4-0 in the 50th minute before Nicolas Kuhn hammered in a fifth on the hour.

    The rout was complete when Maeda wrapped up his hat-trick as he finished off a flowing attacking move with five minutes to go.

    After the match, Rodgers continued to be effusive about his team, who will face either Rangers or Motherwell in the final.

    "An outstanding team performance. You come up against a team that has been so, so good. We knew it would be a challenge," he told BBC Scotland.

    "We had to bring our A-game and the players did that, in particular during the second half.

    "We were ruthless. We worked the ball really well to create the space and made good runs.

    "It's a beautiful pitch here at Hampden. It's perfect for the football we want to play."

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.