Pep Guardiola pointed out the 'excellent' reaction from Erling Haaland after his early Manchester City substitution.
Haaland scored twice in the opening 25 minutes to equal the Premier League 38-game record - with eight matches still to play - of goals in a single season, moving onto 32. But he was only given until half-time to extend his tally before being taken off for Julian Alvarez as one of two changes, with John Stones also replaced.
Guardiola spoke on Friday about the need to manage Haaland's fitness with 24-hour meticulous care, and with two important knockout games on the horizon next week the forward was brought off early to keep him in top shape. Despite missing out on the opportunity to add more goals, Haaland was complimented for his body language after being substituted.
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"It was excellent as always," said Guardiola. "You see his body language during the game, he's like John (Stones).
"They come from injuries and he played after 15 days the first 90 minutes against Bayern Munich, the game was 3-0 and like with John always you have to take care because his injuries are long and after 45 minutes it was good for them to rest.
"I want Erling to break all the records, that means he scores a lot of goals and helps us. What he wants is titles and to be there and still we are there. We still have to play eight or nine games and he is close to breaking all of them."
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