Pep Guardiola said he did not care about giving Erling Haaland an opportunity to score a hat-trick on his Premier League debut after the striker was substituted 12 minutes from the end of an utterly convincing 2-0 win away to West Ham United.
And after the £54m signing showed his frustration by slapping his lap as he sat in the dugout before describing not being able to score a third as “s***” on TV afterwards, his new boss welcomed such a hungry attitude a week after Haaland was widely criticised for his performance in the Community Shield defeat to Liverpool.
Such was the 22-year-old Norwegian's determination to hit the ground running, Guardiola joking said he even thought that Haaland could have punched one of his team-mates if they attempted to take the ball from the striker before he converted the penalty kick that he won after being taken down by home goalkeeper Alphonse Areola in the 35th minute.
