MY ACCOUNT
Manchester City’s rivals have been warned that Erling Haaland has not even fully adapted to the team’s style of play yet, with Kevin De Bruyne adamant there is much more to come.
Haaland was in lethal form again on Tuesday as he scored twice in City’s comfortable 4-0 win over Sevilla at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan on matchday one of Champions League Group G.
His first saw him get on the end of a De Bruyne cross, while his second was a rebound tap-in after a Phil Foden shot was parried straight to him.
Haaland became only the fourth player to score on his Champions League debut with three different clubs, having also done so for Borussia Dortmund and Salzburg.
His exploits in Seville continued from his electric start to the Premier League season, taking him to 12 goals in just seven matches across all competitions.
And what could strike even more fear into opponents is that De Bruyne does not think he has fully adapted yet.
“I think the way he’s adapted to us is really good but I think outside the goalscoring there’s still another part in the game,” he told BT Sport.
“I think that part is tougher to adapt to. It makes it more exciting. If he can adjust to the way we play, then the levels will go up.”
He added: “I try to do my job, make the right movements and try to create as many chances as I can and I know one way or another, Erling is going to be there.
“For the moment, he is scoring the goals so it helps us win the games.”
City coach Pep Guardiola was almost nonplussed about Haaland’s record, pointing out it is not too dissimilar to the goalscoring frequency he had at his previous clubs.
He just hopes the Norway striker continues the way he has started.
“I think his numbers across his career, not just here but in previous teams, is quite similar,” Guardiola said.
“So he has an incredible sense of goal – he scored two and had chances for two or three more to score.
“We have incredible numbers in scoring goals, so we want to continue like that. Another battle next on Saturday against Tottenham, so hopefully he can continue scoring goals.”
