Manchester City breezed past Newcastle United in the FA Cup to advance to the semifinals. Although the difference maker of the night was Portuguese wizard Bernardo Silva who scored a brace, the talking point was star striker Erling Haaland. The Norwegian’s stats read 13 passes, 0 shots on target, and 16 possession losses. These are not the most impressive of numbers. However, Pep Guardiola surprised everyone by saying he ‘liked’ this performance. Guardiola’s concern was something different.

In the post-match presser, the Spanish manager highlighted the reason behind Erling Haaland’s quiet display. He said, “Today was the Erling I like to see. I like it.” He also laid bare the regret he had with the match. The Man City boss explained, “It was in the moment we didn’t find him a little bit more, for the players from behind, with Lascelles and Botman jumping to Jeremy and Phil, we should have used it a little bit more in the space, but sometime’s it’s difficult to see during the game.”

Newcastle adopted a man-marking scheme on winger Jeremy Doku and playmaker Phil Foden. In theory, this should have freed up Erling Haaland to wreak havoc in the backline. But unfortunately, City couldn’t get the ball to the striker as much as they would have liked. This seems to be what irked their manager.

Also, this is the second consecutive match where the Norwegian ace couldn’t score. Last week against Liverpool, he was 2nd best to Virgil van Dijk and Co. Hence, there are some worries among the Manchester City supporters. But Pep Guardiola knows that it is just a matter of time before his #9 starts scoring freely.

Erling Haaland always had the backing of Pep Guardiola in tough times

In February, Erling Haaland faced a similarly unusual barren run in front of goal. In a game against Chelsea, the 23-year-old missed 9 chances in a single game! The match resulted in a draw and daggers were pointed at the goal-machine. But the Man City manager was calm. Guardiola said, “We created the chances and next time he’s going to score. I don’t blame him. Next day he’ll score.”

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The story was similar in the match against Brentford in the same month. Actually, it was the Norwegian who scored the sole goal of the game to win his side 3 points. Yet, lots of people were unhappy with his performance. But, Guardiola once again came to his striker’s defense. He said, “When I was young, a friend of mine told me to ‘never criticize the top scorers, they will shut your mouth.’ So sooner or later, he [Haaland] is always there.”

What went wrong for Erling Haaland against Newcastle? Have your say below.

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