Man City get over Erling Haaland shock to deliver Liverpool FC warning

There was a moment in the first half against Southampton where nobody in the ground could believe what had happened.

Erling Haaland had raced onto a Phil Foden ball with all the energy of a lion about to devour a jackal and, where many would have taken a touch to settle themselves or bring it onto their stronger foot, he had lashed the ball first time with his weaker right straight in for another goal. Except as he wheeled away in celebration, the ball instead rebounded off the inside of the post and careered back past the other post to meet the striker at the touchline.

City fans and Haaland were reminded for what felt like the first time in forever what it feels like to have a striker go through and not score. It has been obvious that the Norwegian cannot keep up his preposterous scoring record, and yet this miss still took everyone at the Etihad by surprise.

Also read: City player ratings as Cancelo outstanding vs Southampton

By this stage too, only 20 minutes in, it was beginning to feel already like a frustrating afternoon against a side that know more than most how to get a result against Guardiola's side. Whatever their struggles this season, Ralph Hasenhuttl is one of the best in the division at stopping City.

Riyad Mahrez, preferred in the starting XI to Jack Grealish, had seen three chances go begging before Haaland's miss. An early shot was saved well by former City academy player Gavin Bazunu but there was less mitigation for blazing over first from a Joao Cancelo cross and then from a corner.

Those missed chances may have rattled City in previous seasons, but with a goalscoring phenomenon at the head of this team there is now much less need to panic. And as opposition players concern themselves with how