Haaland excited after scoring first City goal

Erling Haaland gushed that it’s “going to be fun” working with Pep Guardiola after he scored his first goal in a Manchester City shirt. Haaland netted the only goal of the game as City beat Bayern Munich 1-0 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin on Saturday. Stormy weather conditions disrupted the friendly, but that did not stop the former Borussia Dortmund striker from getting on the end of a Jack Grealish cross in the 12th minute to tap in.

Speaking after the win, Haaland said: “As you probably all know, I’ve been watching a lot of City games in the last years, and in the last years it has been without a striker, so of course I’ve been seeing myself in these situations today, so I’m not surprised.”

Haaland’s figures

The Norwegian scored 86 goals in 89 appearances across all competitions during two and a half years at Dortmund, with only Robert Lewandowski (123 in 108 games) and Kylian Mbappé (93 in 111 games) from Europe’s top five leagues scoring more in that time.

As for his new manager, Haaland added: “Guardiola is a bit crazy and I like that, so it’s going to be fun. It’s one week so I cannot tell too much, but I’ve been training good and I’m ready for what’s next.”

Haaland’s debut goal in the United States came courtesy of neat passes from Kevin De Bruyne and Grealish, and the 22-year-old is looking forward to playing with the England international. “[Grealish is] good. He has to get better, I have to get better, but [it’s a] good link. I like the vibe around him, so it’s going to be fun.”

Guardiola happy with Haaland

Guardiola was pleased with the first sighting of his new number nine, saying after the game: “He scored a goal, which is important. These type of goals in front of keeper – always he’s there. The first minutes, he needs more rhythm and time but already he had 45 minutes which is good for him. We’ll see how he reacts to the niggles that he had in the previous weeks. After we come back we have long weeks to prepare every weekend game. In those two or three weeks we will get the best form.”