EPL: Guardiola praises Erling Haaland after Manchester derby hat trick

Following his hat trick in the Manchester derby, Pep Guardiola lauded star striker Erling Haaland, praising the player’s work ethic in particular.

Haaland scored three of Manchester City’s six goals against city rivals Manchester United on Sunday, giving him a hat trick in three straight games at the Etihad Stadium.

Following the win on Sunday, manager Pep Guardiola praised the forward’s obscenely brilliant start to his Premier League career, saying: “The numbers speak for himself. He has done this before here. It is not our way. Always we try to help him in our environment. We have this incredible sense that he always looks starving and is so competitive.

“The numbers are scary, honestly.

“Of course, the quality we have alongside him helps him to score goals. But what he has done, I didn’t teach him once. When the ball is right, and he attacks the box, how he moves behind the central defender away from the action, he has incredible instincts that the ball will arrive there and it comes from his mum and dad. He was born with that and [we] just help him produce more goals.

“What they have done today, Erling has done in Norway, in Austria and in Germany, that is the reality.”

Guardiola also made a point of praising the forward’s attitude and work ethic: He came and realised: ‘Oh, these guys, my mates, run like an animal and I have to do it, too.’”

“What I like in the last period of the game is he is involved. He said: ‘I prefer to touch the ball five times and score five goals’. I don’t like that, I want him to touch the ball more and more, so he became a football player to score goals. I like that he’s part more for the situations, but don’t forget his biggest talent is to put the ball in the net.”