Erling Haaland has explained his heated conversation with Pep Guardiola at the end of the first-half in Manchester City’s win over Burnley.
The Premier League holders got their title defence off to the perfect start as they beat newly-promoted Burnley 3-0 on the opening night of the season at Turf Moor, with Haaland netting a brace in the opening period before Rodri sealed victory with 15 minutes remaining.
Haaland’s two goals were not enough to keep his manager happy though, with Guardiola animated as he walked off the pitch with his striker and pushed the camera away.
“That was from the last action, when I got a bit mad because Bernardo didn’t play me,” Haaland explained to Sky Sports after the match. “So [Guardiola] was mad at me.”
The City boss said of the incident: “He wants all the time the ball to him, man-to-man, ‘give me the ball in behind and I’m going to do it’.
“But when you have two minutes left and Kovacic goes in behind and loses the ball, and Rodri loses the ball, and Erling wants that ball - Bernardo was correct to not give him that ball.”
Haaland scored 52 goals in his first year in England, 36 of those coming in the Premier League as he wasted no time in settling in at City and firing them to trophies domestically and in Europe.
Pep Guardiola having words with Erling Haaland at the end of the first half 👀 pic.twitter.com/ML8nUeyh8I
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 11, 2023
The 23-year-old was asked after his brace against Burnley whether he could beat that tally this season, but he made it clear his focus was on reminding everyone just how dominant City can be.
“I cannot think too much about this,” Haaland said.
“If you think about this, I think you will become a bit crazy in your head. For me it’s about the restart of course, it looks like people forget fast in this game that we are Treble winners and everything.
“We have to try and chase things again.”
