Man City players help Erling Haaland by not passing the ball to him

Manchester City were 26 minutes into their game with Bournemouth when something happened that has become more and more familiar.

Erling Haaland came back to receive a ball, nodded it back to a teammate, and then set off in the hope of a return. Another common theme of recent months: that ball never reached him.

This one, from Ilkay Gundogan, came closer than most though before it was cut out by a last-ditch tackle. The reason it needed a last-ditch tackle was that Haaland had three teammates making similar runs up the pitch; Jack Grealish was powering up the left, Julian Alvarez was close to the No.9 and Phil Foden was on the right.

Also read: Man City silence critics three times in 45 minutes at Bournemouth

Too often since the World Cup, Haaland has been an isolated figure because there has not been the supporting cast to help him out. It cannot happen every match and Pep Guardiola has spoken extensively about why Grealish and Riyad Mahrez are his preferred picks on the wings, yet it liberated the Norwegian to see the attacking threat shared; it was no longer five-on-one but five-on-four.

It only took two more minutes for Haaland to get a goal from this. Nathan Ake played a ball forward for Gundogan and the German was able to pick out the run of Foden at the back post rather than going the predictable route; Foden's effort was only partially stopped and Haaland smashed in the rebound.

Goals will keep the boring narrative about his place in the team quiet, especially when they are significant ones: this, his 27th Premier League goal, means he has scored more than any other City player has ever scored in a single campaign. With 13 games still to play, that is some way to replace Sergio Aguero.

Haaland could of course