Erling Haaland “cancelled himself” in Manchester City’s clash with Inter Milan, putting in an underwhelming performance in the 0-0 draw.
That’s according to goalkeeper Emiliano Viviano, relayed by FC Inter News, who was less than impressed by what he saw from the Norwegian superstar.
Haaland has been in sensational form again at the start of this season, bagging nine goals in six games in all competitions to date.
He drew a blank in the Champions League this week, though, finding himself well marshalled by a resilient Inter Milan defence that seemed to have his number.
That was at least the case for defender Francesco Acerbi, who he was later seen joking with after the game after the two players had done battle throughout the game.
“I saw a great performance from Inter, but City played their game, the one they always play. It didn’t score a couple of fairly simple goals,” he said.
“Haaland? Underwhelming, a bit Acerbi cancelled him out and a bit he cancelled himself out. But City also had some very young kids on the pitch.”
It proved to be another frustrating evening for Manchester City, who also toiled against the same side in the Champions League final two seasons ago.
The Italian side appear to know the way to play against Pep Guardiola’s side but were unable to match a solid defensive display with the clinical finishing needed to secure all three points.
That ultimately showed in the statistics too as Manchester City dominated the XG, and Viviano has criticism for Ilkay Gundogan on that front too.
“Sometimes they got lost in a few passes, but as far as stats count the expected goals are 2.35 to 0.77 for City. Sommer didn’t make any decisive saves. But Gundogan hit it from three metres. It’s a bad shot,” he added.
