Haaland up and running It took Erling Haaland all of three minutes to open his account for the new season as he emphatically volleyed home Rodri's cut-back header after a well-worked corner routine. The second came 30 minutes later when he capped off a sublime team move with an even sweeter first-time finish. Ahead of the game,
Pep Guardiola told the Norwegian sensation not to sweat over scoring goals, to concentrate on getting back to his best and improving the smaller details of his game. The Blues boss went as far as to say he doesn't want Haaland to be scoring 50 or 60 goals. "I will advise him don't put too much pressure on the goals and so on," he said. "What I say to Erling is come back at your best because he's 1m90cm and try your best physically and mentally. If you score fine, if you don't score fine. Try to improve your details, quality and the skills in spaces like you can be a better player. "And if the team is going to help you to give you as much help as possible to score the goals, this is what they have to do. I don't want Erling to score 50 or 60, try to be as happy as you were last season, relax and get to your best after holidays, after Asia. Training better, every game you play demanding yourself to make the effort then the goals, as he knows, will come along naturally. Don't force it." Well, the striker might be about to defy his manager's orders because if the opening game is anything to go by he'll be
BREAKING records once again this year. De Bruyne blessing to a curse Kevin De Bruyne absolutely bossed the first 20 minutes of the game, playing silky passes in the middle and whipping several deadly crosses into the box - the first of which led to the opening goal. It was a wonder the brilliant Belgian was starting the first game of the season given it initially looked as though he would be sidelined for the opening weeks after his hamstring finally gave way in the
Champions League final. So to have him in the team, captaining and playing so well was a real blessing. But then it turned into a curse as De Bruyne pulled up nowhere near the ball with a forlorn look on his face. He didn't even wait to be treated on the pitch before taking his armband off and making his exit. Any amount of time City are without him they won't be at their best in. Given they also lost Ruben Dias and John Stones before the match, it's not an ideal start to a gruelling season. Defensive depth For any other team in the world, losing your two best centre-backs would be cause for disaster let alone concern. Sometimes just losing one can be catastrophic as
Arsenal found out last season with William Saliba. But how do City respond to such a potential crisis? Well, they leave £130million worth of centre-back sitting on the bench, of course. It was Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji tasked with partnering up in the heart of defence with Rico Lewis coming in to operate in the inverted-full-back role. They came under the cosh at several points in a lively atmosphere and relied on Rodri to bail them out on a few occasions but to keep a clean sheet (and not even concede a second-half shot, which only happened once changes had been made) with your fourth or fifth-choice centre-back pairing is a serious display of strength in depth. New captain? Ilkay Gundogan wasn’t confirmed as City’s new captain officially until last season was two games old but it was obvious he was going to get the armband after skippering the side in those opening matches. The squad may not have held their leadership vote to replace the German just yet but we got a clear indication of who is going to win at Turf Moor. Dias wasn't in the squad so it's not set in stone just yet but De Bruyne wore the armband to start the match and it would be surprising if he wasn't named skipper officially. The question is how long will it be until he leads his side out again? Do City need a new winger? As City got ready to kick off the
Premier League season, the Saudi Pro League also got underway as Riyad Mahrez’s Al-Ahli won 3-1. The departure of the winger hasn’t got as much attention as Gundogan’s as Bernardo Silva was favoured over him in the biggest games last season anyway but he is still a significantloss and a player who has not yet been replaced. Mahrez was a consistent goal threat during his years in Manchester, contributing 15 goals and 13 assists to the treble, and was particularly useful in games where City had to unlock stubborn defences. Time will tell how much his absence will be felt but he wasn't missed much at Turf Moor. Though Bernardo started on the right he and Phil Foden often swapped sides in a fluid midfield four and it was the latter who showed some real incision and spark. He twice came close to scoring special goals in the opening 45 after some sublime touches before being drowned out. He was positive with the rest of his play which really helped drive City forward as they shuck off the pre-season rust. It looked like it might finally be the year Foden gets his central role but with Lucas Paqueta being targeted it might be another year on the flanks. Thankfully, it's not the worst place for him to be.