Pep Guardiola, the manager of Manchester City, referred to Erling Haaland as a “incredible professional” after the Norwegian scored twice in his team’s 3-1 win over Young Boys, which all but guaranteed that Manchester City would advance to the knockout stage of the Champions League.
As a result of Mohamed Camara’s foul inside the penalty area against Rodri in the 67th minute, Haaland was awarded a penalty kick, which he converted for his first goal in the last six Champions League matches.
The goal-scoring machine for City added a fantastic second goal when, in the 86th minute, he switched the ball from his left foot to his right foot before blasting it into the top corner.
Haaland, who had already rewritten several scoring records during the previous season, added another one on Wednesday when he broke Kylian Mbappe’s record as the youngest player to score 37 goals in the Champions League. The Norwegian striker, who is currently 23 years and 96 days old, accomplished this feat in 33 matches during his career.
The events of the previous season have put a lot of strain on him. Not only the previous campaign. It is not possible for him to score seven goals in every single game because he needs to do so. He is in a good mood. Many of the team’s goals were scored by him. After scoring 52 goals, everyone want him to fail,” remarked Guardiola. “They want him to fail.”
“Perhaps at the appropriate time in the season, he will be even more impressive than he is right now. He is currently competing in the Champions League once more. We are overjoyed to find out that he is a man who is hungry. He is incredibly modest. He is an outstanding example of professionalism. He is an outstanding adversary in the game.
“He takes part in the games and contributes more to our process,” she said. It is not acceptable for him to merely stand in the penalty area and try to score goals.
“He will be smarter if he is there involved when we arrive in the box,” you said. I have no reason to doubt it, and he expresses a desire to get better.
The performance of the entire team, which had 26 shots and had more than 68% of possession of the ball, was a source of great satisfaction for Guardiola.
**City’s victory over Young Boys, by a score of 3-1, extended their club-record winning streak in European competition to 17 matches. This form dated all the way back to the beginning of the previous season’s Champions League, during which they won the title for the first time. Their record during that tournament was 11 wins and six draws.
**It also saw Pep Guardiola equal his greatest unbeaten run in the Champions League as manager, drawing level with the 16 games without defeat he achieved during his term as Barcelona’s manager between 2011 and 2012.
** Only Manchester United enjoyed a longer unbeaten run in Europe than any other English team, going 25 games between 2007 and 2009 without suffering a defeat.