Erling Haaland has revealed that some old-fashioned garden practice with his dad has helped improve the heading ability increasingly evident at Man City.
Haaland scored twice as Enzo Maresca’s side opened their Champions League campaign with a 2-0 victory over Porto on Tuesday night.
His first came with his head shortly after half-time, continuing a notable trend in the Norwegian’s goalscoring.
Haaland has been working on his heading
Haaland told Norwegian broadcaster TV 2 that he had been practising headers with his father Alfie just two days before the Porto game.
“Over the years, I’ve worked a lot on my heading,” he said.
“I’ve improved it massively and it’s become a strength of my game. I think a lot of it comes down to experience.”
The work appears to be paying off. Three of Haaland’s five goals this season have come from headers, including his winners against Coventry and Porto.
His double in Portugal also took him to 167 goals in 203 appearances for City, moving him above Tommy Johnson into third place on the club’s all-time scoring list.
Only Eric Brook, with 177, and Sergio Aguero, with 260, remain ahead of him. Haaland is also now level with Aguero on 36 Champions League goals for City.
Not bad based on a bit of practice in the garden with your dad.
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