Scrutiny and critique will follow the Norwegian sensation throughout his time with Man City, but he handled the first bit of it with a combination of tranquility and devastation.
Erling Haaland’s Manchester City legacy was never going to be determined after one performance in the Community Shield, and it’s certainly not going to be sealed after one Premier League match in August. Whether his time at the Etihad proves to be legendary or substandard will be sorted in due time. But such is the scrutiny of his move from Borussia Dortmund to Man City, and such is the pressure on him to deliver under Pep Guardiola, that every performance of his will fall under the spotlight. And his first Premier League experience couldn’t have gone much better.
With a converted penalty kick and a clinical finish on a lightning-quick counterattack, Haaland proved his worth in Sunday’s season-opening 2–0 win over West Ham. His double accounted for both of Man City’s goals on the day and perhaps put to rest some of the early angst surround his 16-touch, missed-sitter-of-a showing vs. Liverpool last weekend.
The lumbering Norwegian came out firing, drawing the penalty that would result in City’s opener. Guardiola was particularly impressed with his desire to take the spot kick, let alone his ability to convert it. There’s an acknowledgement that with Haaland in tow, City’s ceiling must be raised—which is saying something for a club that has won four of the last five Premier League titles—and as a result, the goals and wins must flow. Despite his outrageous scoring record (86 goals in 89 appearances at Dortmund) every game can’t be a masterpiece, but Sunday’s, in which he donned a kit that looked oddly like Dortmund’s, at the very least quieted the critiquing.
“I know how he handled a lot of criticism this week,” Guardiola said following the match. “He was really calm, he trained really well but the way he took the ball for the penalty I said, 'I like it.’
“So direct and I think if someone is taking the ball, he would punch them in the face even though they are his mates! And that is a pretty good sign. To be so confident, I like it.”
His second displayed the kind of devastating player he can be in the open field. Jack Grealish, last summer’s transfer splash, started the action, with Kevin De Bruyne ultimately splitting the defense with a trademark through ball in order to find Haaland in stride, streaking behind his mark. He didn’t even need to take a touch before setting up to shoot, such was the weight of the pass, and such was the technique required to score. Instead of attempting to round the keeper, he opened his hips and calmly used his left to pick out the back post. For a club that didn’t really have a true striker last season, it now arguably has the best in the game, and in the moments it’s required, he can show it.
“Erling scoring the two goals, it's important for him and the team and for us and it's another weapon we have now,” Guardiola said. “But at the same time he's not going to solve all our problems, he's going to add something to us as a team. That's what we are looking for.
“Today, the two goals they were balls in front the center of defense and we had the feeling we could find him more.
“In the past we didn't have a reference like him and now have it again but at the same time the guys have to put the ball there, especially in transitions. It was an incredible second goal and incredible action from Jack. The ball was fed to him, he keeps the ball and attracts the opponents and found a pocket and when this happens with Kevin, with one guy, it's difficult to stop.”
Haaland had twice as many touches vs. West Ham as he did vs. Liverpool, and as time passes and the games in which he’ll truly be judged—Champions League knockout matches—approach, he’ll have, in theory, adapted even more to his new surroundings, and his new league. He is a player who will have questions asked of him every step of the way, no matter how many multi-goal showings he has in league appearances. But on a weekend when Liverpool dropped points and Man United fell at home to Brighton, Man City keeps rolling along. And as far as debuts go, just like Haaland’s meditation celebration, his couldn’t have been much more tranquil and serene.
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