Haaland comes off the bench to score a LAST-MINUTE penalty vs Fulham

‘I don’t care how it went it’: Erling Haaland admits he was ‘really nervous’ before stepping up to score a last-minute penalty to win it for Man City against Fulham… as he insists ‘no team’ would play as well being a man down ‘as good as we did’

  • Erling Haaland came off the bench to score the winner for Man City vs Fulham
  • Haaland was left out of City’s starting line-up by Pep Guardiola on Saturday
  • The Norwegian striker instead started the match from the substitutes bench
  • The 22-year-old has missed City’s last two matches through illness and injury
  • However, he stepped up to score a 95th-minute penalty to snatch three points 

Erling Haaland admits he was ‘really nervous’ before stepping up to score a 95th-minute winner from the penalty spot for Man City, with his strike enough to snatch all three points against Fulham on Saturday.

Haaland had been left out of the starting line-up once again by Pep Guardiola after missing the last two matches due to injury and illness.

With City down to 10 following Joao Cancelo’s red card and the game poised at 1-1, Haaland thought he put his side in front 15 minutes before the end but VAR disallowed the goal for offside.

Erling Haaland (right) came off the bench to score a last-gasp winner for Manchester City

Haaland stepped up to score a 95th-minute penalty to snatch three points from Fulham

However, City were awarded a penalty in the dying embers of the game following a foul by Antonee Robinson inside the area, which saw Haaland step up and convert the spot-kick, sending the Etihad into hysterics. 

The Norwegian has now scored 23 goals in all competitions already this season.

Haaland’s goal sparked wild celebrations at the end of the match at the Etihad on Saturday

Haaland said after the game: ‘Really nervous [for the penalty]. It is about getting though the situation in the proper way and that is what I did.

‘I don’t care how it went it, it is about it going in. Amazing feeling.

‘For me it was about coming in with some energy and try and get a goal because these three points are really important. It was about trying to get it and that is what we did.

‘When you go 10 v 11 for 70 minutes it is difficult, I don’t think any team would do it as good as we did it today.

The Norwegian striker missed City’s previous two matches struggling with injury and illness

‘I was one week out and finally I am back. A good feeling.’

Guardiola has opted to go against putting his star man straight back into the starting line-up.

Julian Alvarez, who has been deputising for Haaland in the last two matches, kept his place in the team and went on to score the opener in the 16th minute. 

The Argentine has now scored six times in 18 matches for City so far this season, including picking up a goal and two assists in their 3-1 victory over Sevilla to wrap up the Champions League group-stages. 

Pep Guardiola opted against putting Haaland straight back into the line-up on Saturday

Earlier this week, Guardiola also confirmed that Haaland was feeling much better, as he returned to training.

‘He’s much better. We will decide today [if he can play against Fulham],’ the Spaniard said.

‘It’s a good step, he starts to train, and we have training this afternoon and we will see.’

Asked what factors will be taken into consideration, Guardiola added: ‘Himself, his opinion, the doctor’s opinion. If it’s 90 minutes or less we will see after training.’




Share this article

Source: Read Full Article