Erling Haaland hailed a “fantastic team display” which saw Manchester City overcome a “horrendous” start to beat Chelsea 3-1 tonight.
Haaland played a huge part with a goal and an assist as City fought back after an early blunder by debutant Abdukodir Khusanov.
The Uzbekistan centre-half, a £33.8million signing from Lens this week, failed to deal with a long-range striker and, after allowing him to bounce, could only flick the ball into the path of Nicolas Jackson, who put Noni Madueke. touch home
Josko Gvardiol equalized towards the end of the first half before Haaland’s goals and Phil Foden secured a win that took Pep Guardiola’s men back to fourth in the table.
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Haaland told BBC Match of the Day: “I think overall it was a great performance, even though we started horribly. It was a fantastic team performance and I’m very happy.
“When we started the way we did, it was tough, but we played really well and kept going and kept going. We kept pushing and the second half was the same. It’s what we have to do after all. We have to lock it in the back and continue aggressively.
“It’s so early that it’s almost like starting with -1 goal. This can happen, but it’s about moving on. That’s about it and you try to keep your head down. That’s what matters.”
Haaland and Ederson combine to great effect
Haaland’s goal came after a long twist forward by goalkeeper Ederson with the Norwegian striker holding off Trevoh Chalobah’s challenge before lifting a shot past Robert Sanchez.
“It’s something we practice,” Haaland added. We try to focus on giving space and then Ederson already gave me a lot of assists. It’s perfect timing because he’s so accurate.”
Khusanov’s nightmarish performance was in stark contrast to Omar Marmoush, who looked lively in his first appearance since joining from Eintracht Frankfurt.
Haaland said: “I’ve seen him in the Bundesliga. It will be fantastic to play with him. You can see it has something special. I’m looking forward to playing with him and it’s going to be a really good time.”
Guardiola missed the important win
Guardiola was delighted with the way his players responded to their early setback which came just three days after they blew a 2-0 lead to lose 4-2 at Paris Saint-Germain – a result which means they must beat Club Brugge on Wednesday night to keep their Champions League hopes alive.
He told Sky Sports: “It’s not the best start. Luckily they didn’t penalize us for 2-0. After we recovered emotionally and performed well.
“We had more ball than the last games. It was really important.”
He added to the BBC: “We’ve struggled recently and it’s been a tough, tough season. Most players have been here eight or nine years and I’m not going to change my mind in two months. We must realize that what we do is not enough.
“I asked them to step up and we did. We created enough chances to score goals and in the end I’m very happy with the win.
Of course we need fresh legs with Omar and Khusanov and now we have one last Champions League game on Wednesday.
It is not easy for Khusanov – Pep
Guardiola is sure Khusanov will learn from his mistake.
“It’s not easy for him,” he said. “He trains once and then to play against Jackson and Cole (Palmer) and Maduke and (Jadon) Sancho. It’s a process when you buy a player so young. He will learn. This kind of action is the best lesson you can learn.”
