Pep Guardiola compared Erling Haaland to Johan Cruyff after the Manchester City striker scored a sensational winning goal against former club Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday evening.
The Norwegian, who had played mostly in the shadows, scored the game’s decisive goal in the last minutes of standard time by converting a superb cross from Joao Cancelo. Haaland’s goal was worthy, and manager Guardiola enthusiastically compared his striker to Barcelona legend Johan Cruyff since the Dutchman scored a goal remarkably similar to that of playing at the Camp Nou.
Haaland’s goal gave Manchester City three more points and secured their second victory in the Champions League. Haaland’s goal was his 13th in just nine appearances since he moved to City in the summer from Dortmund.
As Manchester City has gotten off to an impressive start in the Champions League, its fans are betting on the team’s games at sites like https://www.sportwetten-vergleich.at/. Fans believe that with the form of Haaland, City has an excellent chance of winning the Champions league. Moreover, Manchester City is the bookies’ favourites to win the Champions League after victories over Sevilla and Borussia Dortmund in their first two matches.
Guardiola said on BT Sport after the game’s finish at the Etihad Stadium: “What a goal. Johan Cruyff scored a similar goal against Atletico Madrid many years ago. It’s lovely to see Erling channel Johan Cruyff today.
Jude Bellingham netted with a header to open the scoring, and it appeared as though City struggled to get going against the German powerhouses as a defeat looked the likely outcome.
Nonetheless, John Stones stepped up with a rocket of a shot and drew the sides level before Haaland stepped up to score the game-winning goal, breaking the hearts of his old team.
Guardiola also praised John Stones for his contribution to the win after the centre-back delivered a great equaliser similar to Vincent Kompany’s legendary goal against Leicester City in 2019.
Guardiola said, “We play in our gear today, our game no aggressiveness, quiet, players like Hummels, Sule, Guerreiro, the minute we changed rhythm, 1-0 down, the rhythm from Phil, Bernardo, Julian, we changed our tempo and two fantastic goals.
Final Words
Finally, we will have to wait and see if Erling Haaland can indeed continue to grow and become worthy of comparison with Johan Cruyff, but the early signs are promising. All things considered, Pep Guardiola’s high praise of Erling Haaland is definitely justified.
Indeed, he did score another goal at the weekend against Wolves in their 3-0 victory, and there really does not appear to be any way of stopping him at this moment in time.
