Erling Haaland endured a frustrating night as 10-man Norway were beaten 2-1 by Wales in the Nations League, despite former City winger Oscar Bobb giving the visitors an early lead.
Haaland started his first match since the independent commission published its findings against Man City, but struggled to make his usual impact as Wales fought back to claim their first victory in Nations League A.
Bobb opened the scoring after 11 minutes before Daniel James equalised shortly before half-time. Norway were then reduced to 10 men immediately after the restart, with Neco Williams scoring what proved to be the winner from the resulting free-kick.
Haaland kept quiet as Wales turn game around
Norway made the better start and took the lead when Martin Odegaard released Bobb, who finished past Danny Ward to put the visitors ahead. Wales gradually worked their way back into the contest, with Sorba Thomas causing problems down the left before creating the equaliser in the 38th minute.
Thomas delivered into the area, and James arrived to turn the ball home, sending the sides into half-time level. The game changed almost immediately after the restart when Torbjorn Heggem brought James down on the edge of the penalty area as the Wales forward threatened to race through on goal.
Heggem was shown a straight red card for denying a goalscoring opportunity. Williams took the resulting free-kick and beat Orjan Nyland in the 48th minute to complete the turnaround.
Struggle for Haaland
Haaland had struggled to influence the game before the dismissal but finally threatened shortly before the hour mark, heading over under pressure from Ben Davies. The City striker had another opportunity with nine minutes remaining, but directed his header straight at Ward as Norway searched for an equaliser.
Wales held on for a 2-1 victory, leaving Haaland without a goal from two attempts on a quiet night by his standards. For City supporters, the main interest was Haaland’s return to action following a turbulent week away from the pitch. He completed the match but was unable to add to his goals for Norway before attention turns to the remainder of the international window.
Full details of the game can be found in the Sky Sports match report.
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