Manchester City forward Erling Haaland achieved a remarkable milestone during Sunday’s match against Chelsea, setting a new record under Pep Guardiola’s management.
Haaland, who made his 100th appearance for City, scored his first Premier League goal of the 2024/25 season just 18 minutes into the game. He calmly placed the ball past goalkeeper Robert Sanchez after some excellent build-up play, a move he later discussed in an interview with Sky Sports.
“I don’t know if you remember last year he had a great save on me,” Haaland said. “He always stays close to the line, so I took a few extra touches before he rushed out, and then I knew exactly what to do.”
He added: “I think it was a really good goal. I remembered from last year he irritated me for a long time, so I took a couple of extra touches and then scored perfectly.”
Haaland, who has scored City’s first goal of the Premier League season for the third consecutive year, was relatively quiet for most of the game against Chelsea. Remarkably, he became the first player under Guardiola to complete just three passes in a full 90-minute match.
This statistic is notable given Guardiola’s extensive experience managing numerous players across his tenure with Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Manchester City.
“I want to be more involved, that’s what Pep wants. But in games like this, do I need to be more involved?” Haaland reflected in his Sky Sports interview.
“That’s the million-dollar question. I want to get more assists and become a better player.”
Having been directly involved in 106 goals during his Manchester City career, Haaland received numerous accolades for his performance at Stamford Bridge.
Former Liverpool forward Daniel Sturridge commented on Sky Sports: “He is obsessed with scoring goals. You can see he has more to offer; he wants to be more than just a goalscorer. Ninety-one goals is incredible and rare.”
Micah Richards noted, “He is adapting his game because Manchester City always have the ball. He deserves credit for adjusting his movements in the box and constantly making runs to create space.”
Jamie Redknapp added that Haaland has “brought strikers back into fashion” with his impressive performances.
