Erling Haaland’s Manchester City legacy was never going to be determined after one performance in the Community Shield, and it’s certainly not going to be sealed after one Premier League match in August. Whether his time at the Etihad proves to be legendary or substandard will be sorted in due time. But such is the scrutiny of his move from Borussia Dortmund to Man City, and such is the pressure on him to deliver under Pep Guardiola, that every performance of his will fall under the spotlight. And his first Premier League experience couldn’t have gone much better.
With a converted penalty kick and a clinical finish on a lightning-quick counterattack, Haaland proved his worth in Sunday’s season-opening 2–0 win over West Ham. His double accounted for both of Man City’s goals on the day and perhaps put to rest some of the early angst surround his 16-touch, missed-sitter-of-a showing vs. Liverpool last weekend.
The lumbering Norwegian came out firing, drawing the penalty that would result in City’s opener. Guardiola was particularly impressed with his desire to take the spot kick, let alone his ability to convert it. There’s an acknowledgement that with Haaland in tow, City’s ceiling must be raised—which is saying something for a club that has won four of the last five Premier League titles—and as a result, the goals and wins must flow. Despite his outrageous scoring record (86 goals in 89 appearances at Dortmund) every game can’t be a masterpiece, but Sunday’s, in which he donned a kit that looked oddly like Dortmund’s, at the very least quieted the critiquing.
