Watch: Injured Erling Haaland celebrates Julian Alvarez equaliser for Man City vs Liverpool

Erling Haaland may not have been on the pitch as Manchester City hosted Liverpool in the Premier League on Saturday, but he showed plenty of passion from the stands.

The attacker missed the match due to a groin issue, with the problem forcing him to miss Norway’s fixtures during the international break. Guardiola said on Friday that Haaland would have to be assessed to see if he would be fit in time to face Liverpool, but the no.9 was not named in the squad to face the Reds the following day. “He’s much, much better, but not fully fit for today. He didn’t feel good, we spoke and… no risk,” Guardiola told BT Sport ahead of the game.

In Haaland’s place, City started with Alvarez up front, and the Argentinian made his impact after 27 minutes at the Etihad as he touched in Jack Grealish’s excellent cross to make it 1-1, after Mohamed Salah had given Liverpool the lead earlier in the half.

But Haaland certainly didn’t have any concerns about his replacement upstaging him, and the 22-year-old celebrated exuberantly from the stands at the Etihad, as the above tweet shows.

It’s hoped the forward will be fit in time for City’s next game against Southampton in the Premier League on 8 April, before the Blues host Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie three days later. Haaland is expected to break several records before the end of the campaign with the former Borussia Dortmund man on 42 goals in all competitions so far this season.