Wolves highlight a fresh Erling Haaland issue that Man City must handle.
Manchester City striker Erling Haaland was kept quiet by Wolverhampton Wanderers’ master plan.
Erling Haaland has had only a few frustrating games since joining Manchester City.
Yes, there were times when he was quiet and didn’t have many shots on target, but he always seemed to have the final laugh. Last season’s home game against Borussia Dortmund was a prime illustration of this.
His old teammates knew how to defend against him, but a slip in focus at the back allowed Haaland to perform a moment of magic to win the game. Unfortunately, with the Blues desperate to avoid their first loss of the season,
In reality, the striker only had one shot in the entire game against Wolverhampton Wanderers – a poor deflected attempt that Jose Sa easily gathered. Those who were not present may be wondering how Wolves accomplished the unthinkable.
Was it a novel defensive strategy that Gary O’Neil had spent weeks perfecting? No, it was a straightforward, old-school technique that many clubs no longer use in this day and age.
Wolves chose to just keep Haaland out of the game by man-marking him. Of course, if the centre-back is incapable of handling the 23-year-old, this is easier said than done.
Wolves, on the other hand, had a defender in Craig Dawson who was unwilling to give Haaland even a second of quiet. The 33-year-old suffocated City’s talisman, causing a problem that must be resolved.
Pep Guardiola will be aware that opponents will want to replicate this tactical attitude in forthcoming games, and City must find a means to prevent this from happening. Using someone like Julian Alvarez to take some of the load off Haaland could be the way forward, but Wolves did a good job of countering his threat on Saturday.
Dawson’s performance was a learning experience for City, and no doubt Guardiola will try feverishly to keep his major attacking threat from being stifled again.
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