Erling Haaland brutally fires back at Roy Keane after pundit likened the Man City forward to a League Two striker – following rampant four-goal showing against Wolves
Erling Haaland has hit out at Roy Keane after plundering four goals to consolidate Manchester City’s grip on the Premier League title race.
Arsenal’s 3-0 win over Bournemouth had piled the pressure on City before Guardiola’s side beat Wolves 5-1 to fall one point behind with a game in hand.
Haaland – whose performances have attracted widespread criticism this season – took his league tally to 25 in the race for the golden boot.
Keane’s inflammatory comments, when he described the Norwegian’s overall play as that of a League Two striker, have left Haaland’s family in turmoil.
βI don’t really care about that guy, so that’s fine,β Haaland said. ‘I don’t care, we just have to win our games and now relax and concentrate on Fulham.’
Erling Haaland has fired back at Roy Keane after scoring four goals against Wolves on Sunday
Keane described the Norwegian’s overall play as that of a League Two striker
Guardiola declared Haaland is back to his best and Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta watched the demolition at the Etihad at home with his family.
“Erling is back at work,” Guardiola said. ‘Penalties are a guarantee (for him), but the second and fourth were unbelievable. The 20 minutes he [Haaland] played against Nottingham Forest was very good and today too.
‘Winning the title on goal difference is not possible, so we cannot draw. The way Arsenal have played has been so good and consistent.
βIt’s three games, hopefully we win the first and second and reach the third with our destiny in our own hands. We are champions by nine points. If it’s seven, six or three points, Arsenal will win the Premier League.’
Guardiola also revealed why Haaland became frustrated when he was substituted late on, adding: ‘He was frustrated with the referee. With the long balls they sometimes push him and he is pulled.
Guardiola stated that Haaland is back to his best after returning from injury last week
βHe went down and sometimes it wasn’t a foul. It happens very often every match. He was just a little frustrated with these actions, but I can guarantee how happy he was today.β
Wolves boss Gary O’Neil branded the decision to award City’s first penalty, a clash between Josko Gvardiol and Rayan Ait-Nouri, as ‘terrible’ but admitted: ‘The story is that Manchester City were excellent. The officials didn’t cost us anything.’
