Pep Guardiola has admitted that Manchester City cannot solely rely on goal machine Erling Haaland if they are to make an impression this season.
Haaland’s double against Everton took his tally to an incredible 11 Premier League goals from the opening eight games.
But Burnley’s Maxime Esteve’s two own goals during City’s 5-1 win last month theoretically make him second top scorer for Guardiola this term.
Four players – Phil Foden, Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki and Matheus Nunes – all have one each but wingers Savinho, Jeremy Doku and Oscar Bobb have all yet to find the net, while Omar Marmoush is coming back from injury.
‘We cannot do good things with just Erling,’ Guardiola said. ‘Our other players have to make a step up. The chances we create are so clear. They have to score at that level.’
Asked if players not sharing the load was a concern, Guardiola replied: ‘Yeah, we have to score more. If we don’t create it’s fine but when we create we have to score.
Pep Guardiola has admitted that Man City cannot solely rely on goal machine Erling Haaland
Haaland netted twice again against Burnley to take his tally to 11 league goals for the season
Four players – Phil Foden (above), Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki and Matheus Nunes – all have one each for City while Savinho, Jeremy Doku and Oscar Bobb have all yet to find the net
‘They know it. We talk about it for a long time. In the training sessions they are good at finishing so they have to do it. I don’t have doubts that when it is unlocked players will score.’
Haaland has more goals than 12 Premier League teams in their entirety so far and has scored in each of his last 11 matches for club and country.
Guardiola added: ‘What can I say? I’m really p***** off because he could’ve scored four or five. Jokes aside, we cannot rely completely on him.’
