Erling Haaland risks Pep Guardiola wrath with honest confession after Chelsea win

Erling Haaland risked the wrath of Pep Guardiola with his post-match comments after Manchester City’s win over Chelsea. The 24-year-old opened his account for the season with a clever finish inside the opening 20 minutes at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea were made to pay for a slow start when Haaland broke the deadlock from close range on his 100th appearance for City. He muscled his way past two opposing defenders before lifting the ball over Blues goalkeeper Robert Sanchez and into the back of the net.

Mateo Kovacic went on to put the result beyond doubt by scoring a late second against his former club, helping City to make a winning start to their Premier League title defence.

Haaland, who is often criticised for not contributing much apart from his goals, completed just three passes in 90 minutes against Chelsea. Speaking after the final whistle, he admitted that he was looking to improve his overall game but questioned whether he even needs to.

He told Sky Sports: “When you see today, all the defenders and how good they play to the midfielders. Pep will not like me saying this, but they don’t need me in this team, so I can just stand there and watch!

“But no, of course, to get more involved, that’s what Pep wants. But do I need to be more involved? I don’t know. It’s the million-dollar question. I want to get more assists and become a better player.”

Haaland will be hoping to maintain his prolific form throughout the campaign as City go in search of a fifth successive Premier League title. He was delighted with their winning start against Chelsea, who fought hard but were unable to get themselves back into the contest.

“Three points, a perfect start,” he said. “First games are always hard for everyone. It doesn’t matter if you had a pre-season or not. I had a long pre-season but I don’t feel perfect, I’m not in the perfect state. It’s good to get that win.

“I knew exactly what to do [for the goal]. I think it was a really good goal. I remember last year he [Sanchez] made a really good save against me. It had been irritating me for a long time, so yeah, it was a perfect goal.”

Reflecting on his century of appearances in a City shirt, Haaland added: “It’s gone so quick. It’s ridiculous how quick it actually goes, it’s my third season now. I’m happy, especially now after the win.

“It’s the first game back and we’re not in perfect shape but we did a really solid performance. We just stayed calm and played, it’s amazing to see.”