Erling Haaland has silenced his early doubters, claims City boss Pep Guardiola

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola believes Erling Haaland has already silenced the doubters after his debut double sank West Ham 2-0.

Haaland had faced some criticism for his underwhelming performance in the Community Shield defeat by Liverpool last weekend.

But the £51million striker announced his arrival in the Premier League in style with a goal in each half, a penalty followed by a neat finish, to open his City account.

“One week ago he could not adapt to the Premier League. Now he’s alongside Thierry Henry, Alan Shearer and Cristiano Ronaldo,” smiled City boss Guardiola.

“He’s a guy with incredible talent, a scorer of goals. I’ve known him for a month. I know how he handled criticism this week and he was calm, he trained really well. We will see when he is complimented how he reacts.”

Haaland had already glanced a header wide when he was gifted the chance to get off the mark.

Alphonse Areola had only been in the West Ham goal for a couple of minutes after coming on as a substitute for the injured Lukasz Fabianski when he brought the Norway international down.

There was only one player who was going to take the penalty, and Haaland expertly sent Areola the wrong way with a low spot-kick which clipped a post on its way in.

“The way he took the ball to take the penalty, I said, ‘oh, I like it’,” added Guardiola.

“I think if someone were to take this ball, he would have punched his team-mates in the face. I’m pretty sure of that, and that is a good sign.

One week ago he could not adapt to the Premier League. Now he's alongside Thierry Henry, Alan Shearer and Cristiano Ronaldo...- Pep Guardiola on Erling Haaland

“You’ve got to be self-confident, ambitious and have a ruthless mentality. And of course, he scored it.”

Haal