‘He will shut your mouth’ - Pep Guardiola gives Erling Haaland verdict & defends Man City star

Pep Guardiola has defended Erling Haaland’s contribution after the Manchester City striker scored the winning goal in Tuesday’s game against Brentford.

The Norwegian powered the ball past Mark Flekken in the 71st minute to give City all three points at the Etihad, as the champions finally managed to find a way past a stubborn Brentford defence.

It was a different story for Haaland than three days previously when he failed to net from nine shots in the 1-1 draw against Chelsea, with Guardiola facing post-match questions about his striker’s frustrations. That was evidently still on the City manager’s mind after the Brentford win, when he pointed to a recent family bereavement and his continued recovery from a foot injury, as reasons why Haaland may not have been at his best recently.

“Top strikers that score a lot of goals, don’t criticise them because he will shut your mouth,” said the Guardiola. Sooner or later, always he is there. 

“He was out for two months, he had an incredibly tough week last week, he lost his grandmother. It is not easy for a human being. Of course, he is not in his best shape but it’s normal after two months.

“In this type of games like Brentford it is really difficult for us because you can break maybe in transition like Liverpool has done in the last game against us, there are no spaces.”

Asked how he handling the passing of Haaland’s grandmother, Guardiola responded: “We spoke about the moment and I realised this later, but he didn’t say anything about the passing away of his grandmother. We talked about how he feels and for his father. In this type of games like Brentford, you need Erling and the spaces with a typical striker.”

Meanwhile, the win cuts City’s gap to leaders Liverpool down to just one point, although Jurgen Klopp’s side could increase that when they face Luton Town on Wednesday.