After West Ham – Manchester City (0-2) / Confidence, Kevin De Bruyne and freshness: The Erling Haaland show, it promises!

Haaland knows he has big responsibilities with Manchester City. They obviously don’t scare him. The Norwegian isn’t one to doubt, and that quickly proved to be true. He did not hesitate for a single second to hit the penalty he himself had just provoked to open the scoring in the middle of the first period. Josep Guardiola was not insensitive to it. “I really loved it (the way Haaland took the ball to take the penalty, editor’s note), recognized the Mancunian coach. At that moment, I felt that he was going to score. The penalties show the involvement, the confidence.”

Already accomplice with De Bruyne

The Norwegian carried out the sentence perfectly. This penalty, he had gone to get it with a beautiful call perfectly read by Ilkay Gündogan to allow his striker to present himself against Alphonse Aréola. A sign that the former Borussia Dortmund player is already developing a great bond with his new teammates. It was confirmed in the second half, when the 22-year-old striker found himself on the receiving end of a brilliant pass from Kevin De Bruyne to deceive Areola and give the defending champion a break.

Haaland-De Bruyne. There are still other smugglers than the Belgian to serve caviar to the Norwegian at Manchester City. But this duo has already burst the screen against the Hammers and displayed a very promising complementarity for the future. There was no doubt that the play in first intention of the Belgian stuck perfectly to the quality of the movements of the Norwegian. That the connection between the two men already seems to be in place, after only a few weeks of cohabitation, it was however much less clear.

Guardiola asks for time

Exactly. Guardiola logically took care to calm the ambient euphoria after Haaland’s dream debut. “Of course he’s got talent, but last week (against Liverpool, editor’s note), he missed a chance and people said it was a failure and he wouldn’t fit into the Premier Leaguerecalled the Mancunian coach. And now he will become the next Thierry Henry or Cristiano Ronaldo? You have to take your time. It was just his first Premier League game, he has a long career ahead of him. When he retires, and we hope he will stay here for many years, we will analyze what has become of him.”

Haaland already knows what example to follow to become an Etihad idol. That of the emblematic Sergio Agüero, top scorer in the history of Manchester City with 260 goals in 390 matches in all competitions. The Norwegian, the first rookie from the Mancunian club to sign a double for his debut in the Premier League since the Argentinian in 2011, signed the ideal start to follow in the footsteps of Kun. The road is still long, but Haaland is already on the right path.

The show until interview

In the meantime, he did not hesitate to savor his dream debut under the eyes of his father, Alf-Inge, a former Manchester City player and present in the stands for his son’s first steps in the Premier League. “It’s a proud moment for me and my familyHaaland told the BBC. It was my dream to experience this stuff every week. The goals will come, I could have scored more but it’s a good start.”

And then there was that cool little moment, when Haaland explained why he hadn’t scored more goals. “On the ball of Gündogan (in the second half, editor’s note) I should have been there to score, so it was a bit of the m….. but that’s the way it is“, he said before awkwardly trying to pull himself together.”M…, sorry. That’s not the right language to use in this country..” Perhaps the Norwegian’s only little failure, and again. It’s a bit part of a show that may not have finished animating the Kingdom.