Erling Haaland accuses Chelsea star of stamping on him 'all the time'

Erling Haaland called out Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez for stamping on him ‘all the time’ after helping Manchester City to victory at Stamford Bridge. The towering Norwegian forward lifted the ball over Robert Sanchez from close range to give Pep Guardiola’s side an early lead.

Chelsea responded by upping the tempo and thought they had equalised through Nicolas Jackson on the stroke of half-time, only to be denied by the flag of the assistant referee. The result was put beyond doubt in the closing stages when Mateo Kovacic found the net to wrap up all three points for City.

Speaking to BBC Sport after the final whistle, Haaland was quick to accuse Fernandez of taking a heavy-handed approach to their individual battles.

“All the time he stamps on me, he pushes me and everything,” said the City striker. “Not only him. I don’t know what they want but that’s what they do, I guess.”

Haaland tangled with Fernandez in the closing stages of the match as the Chelsea playmaker hauled him to the ground while marking him in the box. They exchanged a few stern words before going their separate ways, with no love lost between the pair on the Stamford Bridge pitch.

The result saw City make the perfect start to their Premier League title defence, but they had to dig deep at times with Chelsea pushing hard to find a leveller. Pep Guardiola was delighted with the way his players stood firm before grabbing an insurance goal in the closing stages of the match.

“I didn’t expect it,” said the City boss. “We are a way from our best, so three points is the good news. The bad news is we have 65 games ahead of us.

“We have an advantage, it’s our ninth season together so we know each other well. Of course there are mistakes and you have to improve but we talked, the difference in being champions was our body language, how did we behave? It’s the bad moments in the season and in the games that define the big teams.

“For me, it is an honour to be in charge of these guys. I’m so fortunate, I could not say more. There is a plan, defensive, offensive, but afterwards it’s how we celebrate the good moments and come back from the bad moments. That’s what defines these teams and no one talks about it.”