Erling Haaland ugly work helps Phil Foden send a Man City reminder

Erling Haaland may have had an afternoon to laugh about against Liverpool but Pep Guardiola can be happy with his role in Julian Alvarez's goal.

Manchester City's No.9 checked his run and stretched back to reach a knockdown header from Alvarez, then used those long legs of his to knock the ball first time to the space where Kevin De Bruyne was galloping into position. Continuing the move, Haaland surged into the box with his run occupying both Virgil van Dijk and Andrew Robertson and was then free unmarked in the six-yard box offering an option when Phil Foden connected with De Bruyne's delivery.

Had the England international squared it, barring another exceptional miss, more analysis from Saturday may have been about how quickly Haaland has understood his role in the most textbook of City goals and how his No.9 play could seamlessly slot into this Guardiola outfit. Even without it, the seven-second play will have delighted his manager.

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City scored from the move anyway, and it was also significant that it was Foden latching onto the ball. After missing the tour of the United States, the 22-year-old came off the bench to show that he was still perfectly in sync with his teammates.

More importantly, he showed the damage that he can cause from the wide left position. It was interesting listening to Ilkay Gundogan talk about his winning goal against Aston Villa recently as the German spoke about how the players react when De Bruyne has the ball.

"It's something that is automatic in our game," he said. "We all know Kevin has this huge ability to put the cross in and 90 per cent of the time it just arrives, especially at the back post. Phil