Erling Haaland had a good performance against Newcastle, but Pep Guardiola believes he could have done even better if his teammates had played differently.
Manchester City did what was required of them on Saturday night by defeating Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium.
The game saw Erling Haaland register an assist, which means he has now picked up at least one goal contribution in each of his past five appearances.
However, the Norweigen was unable to score a goal, which means he has now failed to find the net in all meetings between Man City and Newcastle this season. Yet according to Pep Guardiola, this could have been a different story if his striker received better support.
Pep Guardiola calls on Man City to involve Erling Haaland more
Guardiola has had plenty of positive things to say after Manchester City picked up a vital three points against Newcastle.
Despite this, he has taken issue with his players because he does not think they passed the ball to Haaland enough.
According to the manager, the centre forward worked hard throughout the match, but did not receive enough passes in the final third.
He explained in his post-match press conference: “I’m a bit sad for him [Haaland] because there were a lot of actions where players could have made the final pass to him but didn’t find him.
“It’s difficult for him to run, run, run and they don’t give him the balls to score the goals. Sometimes the game is like that. He’s an incredibly generous player.”
Speaking on Haaland’s assist for Nico O’Reilly’s second goal, Guardiola added: “I want someone to cross to him! It’s what I want. But it was incredible movement, four players in the box. It was an incredible assist.
“He’s made a lot of assists already this season. The numbers are unbelievable, work rate, many things. I’m really pleased. Sometimes I’m critical, but today I said, ‘Without you, it wouldn’t be possible’. Erling’s been outstanding today.”
Haaland is leading the Premier League golden boot race
While Guardiola is unhappy with Haaland being played out of the game, the 25-year-old is still having quite the impact for City.
He has scored 22 goals in the Premier League, which is more than any other player, and he is joint second for assists with Rayan Cherki.
The most important thing is that Guardiola’s team keep winning and Haaland will continue to play an important role in ensuring this happens.
