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A magnanimous gesture by Manchester Metropolis’s objective machine Erling Haaland left Pep Guardiola fuming on Saturday.
This was after the Norwegian striker ignored his supervisor’s directions to take a penalty kick and handed the ball to teammate Ilkay Gundogan.
The German midfielder had scored a first-half brace to place the English Premier League leaders 2-0 up in opposition to Leeds United.
However Mr Guardiola yelled from the sidelines for the 22-year-old Haaland to take the penalty kick that they had been awarded within the closing minutes.
Nevertheless, Haaland, who has already scored a Premier League single-season document of 35 objectives, glanced at Guardiola earlier than handing the ball to Gundogan for him to finish a hat-trick.
It was a transfer that despatched the Spanish supervisor into matches of rage, particularly as Gundogan’s effort was pushed apart by a diving goalkeeper Joel Robles.
“If Gundo scores, everyone seems to be ‘OK, hat-trick, nicely accomplished’,” Guardiola mentioned following Manchester Metropolis’s 2-1 victory.
“However a taker is a taker. At 2-0, this can be a enterprise, not a scenario the place we can’t overlook it.”
The 32-year-old Gundogan felt the warmth from Guardiola when he stepped as much as the penalty kick spot.
“First he confirmed to Erling that he was fairly mad about that, after which additionally he had a go at me,” Gundogan instructed reporters. “It’s what it’s on the finish.
“The second Erling grabbed the ball, I used to be positive he was going to take it however he regarded out for me.
“I checked with him a couple of occasions to verify he was positive. He was sure handy the ball to me. I used to be assured to attain.”
Haaland had a number of wonderful scoring probabilities, with a shot that bounced off the crossbar and one other that glanced off the submit.
With Manchester Metropolis in pursuit of their third successive Premier League title, and the win having prolonged their lead over second-placed Arsenal to 4 factors, Mr Guardiola’s temper considerably later improved.
“The efficiency was wonderful. We performed actually, actually good,” the Spaniard, whose aspect have 4 league video games left this season, mentioned by the point he met reporters post-game.
“Who is aware of if Erling takes the penalty kick and misses it? What occurs if Gundo takes the penalty kick and scores? So, the query is 2-0, who’s the taker? The taker is Erling.
“Second level is that’s how Erling is as an individual. He’s unimaginable, needs to attain objectives, however on the identical time, the crew, and the mates are vital.
“He had probabilities to attain objectives, he didn’t convert, however he performed an impressive sport.
“However a taker is a taker. At 2-0, this can be a enterprise, not a scenario the place we can’t overlook it.
“Particularly in England, it by no means is over and I need the taker who has extra routine, who’s a specialist, to take it.”
Treble-chasing Manchester Metropolis subsequent head to Actual Madrid for the primary leg of their 2022/2023 UEFA Champions League semi-final fixture on Tuesday.
(Reuters/NAN)
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