Nico O’Reilly had been presented with the prize by the side of the pitch before Pep Guardiola announced who he felt was a more deserving recipient. “Erling was for me the man of the match,” he said. Normally when Erling Haaland gets the individual honours, it is a reflection of extraterrestrial goalscoring exploits.
Not on this occasion. There are days when the numbers surrounding Haaland are low and high; his number of touches and goals respectively. As Newcastle were defeated at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, perhaps it was the other way around. For the eighth time in 11 games, he did not find the net. Yet he has never been more involved.
He had 43 touches, his most ever in a Premier League match. Haaland’s height and look makes him conspicuous even when he is not on the ball, but he had a ubiquity. The eye was drawn to his battle with Dan Burn, the Etihad looking the land of the giants. Haaland made O’Reilly’s second goal with the kind of ball he would appreciate himself – “I want that someone crosses to him,” said Guardiola – and kept on repelling Newcastle attacks.
Haaland made three clearances; only Rodri and Marc Guehi made more for City. Indeed, only twice in his Premier League career has the Norwegian had more in a match. It was one of those days when, not content with being City’s best attacker, he can look their finest defender. It prompted Guehi to remark that he doesn’t want Haaland to reinvent himself as a centre-back. “I think he should stay up front, for sure,” said the January signing. “I don’t want him to take my place.”
But Haaland is a magnetic presence in the penalty box, heading balls away. Newcastle supporters may have had flashbacks: for years Alan Shearer, in between becoming their record scorer, assumed the duties on the near post at corners.
“I’m not a big fan to put Erling to defend,” said Guardiola. “But he helped us, and I know after, how the people hug him and celebrate him and say they’re grateful for helping us. He’s an incredible, generous player, so today is a performance and I’ll never forget what Erling has done for us.”
Guardiola’s description of Haaland as generous was instructive. The theory is that strikers have to be selfish; the more goals they get, perhaps the more selfish they are. And 2026 has been an unusually barren spell for Haaland, but it has been a time when he has shown a sense of greater responsibility. He is part of City’s leadership group, one of those who organised the refund for supporters who paid for tickets for the dismal defeat to Bodo/Glimt.
With his nine-and-a-half year contract, he has a greater commitment. In turn, that may be making him more of a team player. He is not just a scorer. Guardiola was surprised to be informed that Haaland ranks second in the Premier League for assists, albeit some way behind the runaway leader, Bruno Fernandes.
“So the numbers are unbelievable,” said Guardiola and, once again, he was not talking about Haaland’s goal return. He has seven assists for the top-flight season, only one behind his personal best, in 2022-23. He has got more creative of late. Three have come in his last five games, all in different fashion. There was a pass for Rayan Cherki’s solo goal against Tottenham, a header down for Bernardo Silva’s predatory finish at Liverpool, now the cross for O’Reilly.
That may be a consequence of Guardiola’s shifting tactics. As he has adopted a 4-2-2-2 formation, Haaland has been given a slightly wider brief, one of split strikers. He used to operate almost exclusively within the width of the penalty box. A glimpse at his touch map on Saturday showed 10 of them were to the right of the boxes.
Perhaps, as City have less control and play a more transitional style of football, forwards will have more touches and midfielders fewer; there was an old-style feel to the Newcastle game, more direct football, more swift breaks, more of a constant contest between Haaland and Burn.
Perhaps it helped Haaland that he was arguably fresher than at any stage of the campaign. Having sat out the FA Cup win over Salford, he had not played for 10 days. But it is notable, too, that Guardiola did not substitute him as he looked to hold on: Antoine Semenyo and Omar Marmoush came off but Haaland’s height meant he was indispensable for defending set-pieces.
“His work ethic is amazing. He was flying for every single ball against Dan [Burn],” said Guehi. “It’s not easy.” And Guardiola was thankful. He singled out Haaland for praised in a speech in the dressing room. “Sometimes I’m a critic of him,” the City manager added. “But today I said, ‘guy, without you it would not be possible.’”
