Erling Haaland won it for Man City in Leipzig, and then told his teammates it was not good enough.
Erling Haaland scored the late winner as Manchester City edged RB Leipzig 3-2 in the Champions League on Wednesday night, after the home side had twice dragged them level. The result moved Enzo Maresca’s side into the top eight of the league phase table and gave the manager his first win in four games.
Haaland was not in a celebrating mood afterwards. He wants City to kill games off when they are in front, and he said so straight away.
What did Haaland say after the Leipzig win?
Speaking to TNT Sports, the striker said: “I think we need to step up a bit, when we were 1-0 up I think we needed to go at it, go for the second goal and then the third, that’s what we have to do. We have to work on that.”
Asked what needed to improve, he listed three things: “Keeping the ball, when to keep it when to go, working together offensively and defensively. You can always be better and there’s always a new chance. A new game in three days so that’s lovely.”
That is a striker talking about control. City led 1-0 at the break through a Leipzig own goal from Nico O’Reilly’s ball into the box, and instead of building on it they were caught cold within minutes of the restart.
Two leads thrown away
Ridle Baku beat Gianluigi Donnarumma at his near post from a tight angle just after half-time. Enzo Fernandez headed City back in front, but Antonio Nusa was given far too much room in the box after an hour to make it 2-2. Only then did Haaland settle it.
Donnarumma had already let a Nusa effort through his fingers in the first half before it dropped onto the roof of the net, and Maresca had to stand by his goalkeeper again afterwards, as we covered in Maresca’s defence of City’s No.1.
A defence that keeps leaking
Haaland’s point about “working together offensively and defensively” is the important one. City have now conceded 14 goals in their last seven games and have not kept a clean sheet since they won at Anfield last month. Letting in two a game means the forwards have to score three just to win, and that is not sustainable in any competition.
Maresca keeps rotating, too. He made four changes from the weekend defeat to Brighton, with Marc Guehi coming in for captain Ruben Dias, and it still looks as though he has not settled on his best back line or midfield. Our RB Leipzig 2-3 Man City match report has how the goals went in.
Even Haaland had an untidy night. He missed several chances to wrap the game up, threw his arms up in frustration more than once and was even flagged offside, before producing the one moment that mattered.
Haaland’s praise for Elliot Anderson
The winner came after a strong run from Elliot Anderson, who joined City in the summer. Haaland was full of praise for the midfielder: “He has been amazing, he has had an amazing start to his City career and that is what you expect. You have to come straight in and perform. It is not easy to come in, you need to adapt and new players and a new coach, so he has been impressive. Respect.”
Anderson’s next game is a return to the City Ground. City visit Nottingham Forest on Saturday, and after back-to-back Premier League games where poor decisions in front of goal cost them, they cannot afford to drop more points.
Is Haaland right about Man City?
He is, and it is telling that he is the one saying it. Before the game Maresca warned that City cannot rely on Erling for all their goals, and his teammates did chip in, with an own goal forced and a Fernandez header. But the side still needed its main man to rescue a game they had led twice.
The fix Haaland is asking for is not about scoring more. It is about keeping the ball when City are ahead, picking the right moment to attack and defending as a unit, so a one-goal lead is not handed straight back. If that clicks at the City Ground on Saturday, Maresca’s work in progress starts to look a lot more like a title side. If it doesn’t, City will be leaning on Haaland again.
