Annual tennis tournament to be held at Al Habtoor Grand Beach Resort from December 2-7
sports1 day ago
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola said Erling Haaland is at the standard of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo when it comes to finding the net after scoring twice on his return from injury in a 4-1 win at Southampton on Saturday.
Victory took City to within five points of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League.
Haaland has now scored 44 times in his debut season with the English champions, including 30 in 27 Premier League appearances.
The Norwegian's second goal was special as the giant striker acrobatically volleyed home Jack Grealish's cross with an overhead kick.
"The second goal was amazing. It is not easy to pick the ball up in the sky and put it on the grass," said Guardiola, who coached Messi during four years as Barcelona coach.
"We need him. The first half was not our best level but he changed the game.
"As a top scorer we lived two incredible decades with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi but he is on that level. He scores a lot of goals. I am very happy with 65 minutes after injury and he helped us again."
Guardiola was true to his word that he was not thinking about Tuesday's Champions League quarterfinal, first leg against Bayern Munich as Haaland's return from a groin injury was the only change from the side that thrashed Liverpool 4-1 last weekend.
But the visitors failed to hit the same heights for the first 45 minutes and could have been punished against a side with more firepower than the Saints.
Southampton remain rooted to the foot of the table and four points adrift of safety.
Haaland opened the floodgates just before half-time when he stooped to meet Kevin De Bruyne's cross.
City went through the gears after the break as an eighth consecutive win in all competitions kept Guardiola's men in the hunt for a treble of trophies.
Grealish is enjoying his best form since a £100 million ($124 million) move from Aston Villa in 2021 made him the Premier League's most expensive ever player at the time.
He fired in at the second attempt after his first effort was saved by Gavin Bazunu.
Grealish turned creator for the third as his cross was finished in spectacular fashion by Haaland.
"You will never see me do that," said De Bruyne of Haaland's second goal. "You would get me to Southampton hospital if I do that!"
That was the striker's final touch as he then made way for Julian Alvarez for the final 20 minutes with one eye on Bayern's visit in midweek.
Sekou Mara briefly gave the home support something to cheer when he steered home Moussa Djenepo's cross.
But City restored their three-goal cushion just three minutes later when De Bruyne was bundled over inside the box.
The Belgian stood aside to allow Alvarez to fire home his 14th goal of the season despite largely playing second fiddle to Haaland.
ALSO READ:
Annual tennis tournament to be held at Al Habtoor Grand Beach Resort from December 2-7
sports1 day ago
The Belgian is skilfully balancing his role as an ambassador for The Brain & Performance Centre with his TV commentary role as he continues to inspire both on and off the course
sports1 day ago
Led by the ‘Queen of the Fairways,’ Jenny Hennessy, the all-female golf group takes centre stage at the Jumeirah Golf Estates championing inclusivity
sports1 day ago
He hasn't played a competitive singles match since losing to Novak Djokovic at the Olympics in July while in 2023 he played just four times
sports2 days ago
Szalai collapsed on the bench seven minutes into the match between the Netherlands and Hungary at the Johan Cruyff Stadium
sports2 days ago
Part of the Golf is Good initiative it includes a Golf Sixes Mini-League over 135 free activities which are being held across nine venues this year
sports2 days ago
Meanwhile, Netflix said on Saturday that 60 million households worldwide had tuned in for the highly anticipated boxing match
sports2 days ago
DP World empowers People of Determination through golf and community engagement at the Jumeirah Golf Estrates
sports2 days ago