Guardiola makes daring Haaland claim with Messi-Ronaldo comparison
Pep Guardiola has compared Erling Haaland’s return to the pitch to that of legendary footballers Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Norwegian forward scored twice in Saturday’s 4-1 victory over Southampton, bringing his Premier League total to 30 goals in 27 games.
Haaland scored the game’s first goal as he dove to meet Kevin De Bruyne’s cross just before halftime, paving the way for Manchester City to dominate the match.
City picked up the pace in the second half and secured their eighth consecutive victory across all competitions, putting them in contention for a possible treble of trophies under the direction of coach Guardiola.
Grealish then scored the first goal of the second half, followed shortly thereafter by Haaland’s third.
The former Borussia Dortmund star’s second goal was particularly impressive, as he used an acrobatic overhead kick to volley Jack Grealish’s cross.
After Sekou Mara had scored a goal for the home team, Julian Alvarez cli
nched the victory with a well-executed penalty kick.
Guardiola credited Haaland with turning the tide against the struggling Saints, praising his “really good” talent and stating that City needed him.
The Spaniard, who coached Messi during his time at Barcelona, praised Haaland’s goal-scoring abilities, stating that he is on par with Messi and Ronaldo, two of the most dominant footballers of the last two decades.
“The second goal was amazing. It is not easy to pick the ball up in the sky and put it on the grass,” Guardiola told Match of the Day.
“His talent is really good. We need him. The first half was not our best level but he changed the game. As a top scorer we lived two incredible decades with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi but he is on that level. He scores a lot of goals. I am very happy with 65 minutes after injury and he helped us again.”
Haaland has scored 44 goals in his first season with Manchester City, including 10 goals in six Champions League appearances.
Guardiola stated that he was not considering Tuesday’s quarterfinal against Bayern Munich despite the victory, as his striker’s return from a groin injury was the only change to the team that defeated Liverpool 4-1 last weekend.
Guardiola makes daring Haaland claim with Messi-Ronaldo comparison
