Since his summer transfer from Borussia Dortmund, Haaland has held center stage at the Etihad Stadium, scoring a staggering 19 goals in just 12 matches.
Pep Guardiola thinks Julian Alvarez, another attacking “weapon” at Manchester City, is settling in quietly and performing admirably thanks to Erling Haaland’s brilliance.
Since his summer transfer from Borussia Dortmund, Haaland has held center stage at the Etihad Stadium, scoring a staggering 19 goals in just 12 matches.
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The prolific Norwegian scored twice more as City defeated FC Copenhagen 5-0 on Wednesday in the Champions League, but he wasn’t the only new striker to register a goal.
The Argentine international Alvarez, who was acquired from River Plate, scored the team’s fourth goal in the second half.
Guardiola believes the duo have added a new dimension to City’s play after the team went the majority of the previous two seasons without an obvious center-forward.
“Copenhagen are a team that can do intensive high pressing, but if we are able to make good movements, they will defend deep and at that time,” the City manager remarked.
“We need players in the box against these kinds of teams, and Erling and Julian provide us that option.
“Having players there is crucial in these types of games, especially for the people outside like Joao (Cancelo), Sergio (Gomez), and others.
How many times did Julian have the movement while Bernardo (Silva) arrived at the byline? The space in the middle is so small against teams like them that we have to make an effort to move there, and Julian is excellent at it.
“Not only me, but the entire team, is overjoyed with the goal he scored and the way he played.
Erling is a particular person, so it’s typical for him to be a little late on the highlights, but he’s still a somebody we rely on a lot.
“The way we played since day one was magnificent and, against teams that play so tight, he helped us a lot to have an extra weapon close to the box with this sense of scoring a goal.”
After scoring three goals against Manchester United on Sunday, Haaland continued his momentum on Wednesday by breaking through the defense of the reigning Danish champions with his very first touch.
Before being replaced at halftime, he scored again as City also benefited from an own goal by David Khocholava.
After the break, Riyad Mahrez scored a penalty before Alvarez, who also struck the post, sealed a resounding victory and moved City into the round of 16.
With three victories under their belt, City leads Dortmund by three points and is five points ahead of Sevilla and Copenhagen. Dortmund has won all three of their games.
They were really well organized in every way, but we performed pretty well, according to Guardiola.
Beyond the outcome, our performance was extremely, really strong.
“Our performance was outstanding. I’m quite happy with the guys’ work.