Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has called himself and three teammates accountable for the Champions League defeat to Norway’s Bodo/Glimt.
The Premier League leaders travelled to Aspmyra Stadion in Norway on Tuesday night as heavy favourites, but found themselves trailing early. Bodo/Glimt striker Kasper Høgh scored twice in the first 25 minutes before winger Jens Petter Hauge added a third. City managed a single goal from Rayan Cherki, but the match turned further against them when Rodri received a red card. The game ended in a 3-1 loss for Pep Guardiola’s side.
After the match, Haaland openly criticised himself and three experienced teammates, naming Rodri, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Tijjani Reijnders as responsible for the “embarrassing” result.
Speaking to TNT Sports, Haaland said: “I take full responsibility together with Rodri, Gigio [Donnarumma], Tijjani [Reijnders] – us experienced players. I don’t want to blame anyone but we need to take more responsibility, because at the end it’s not good enough. We’re Man City, we can’t go around and not win games, it shouldn’t be like this. I don’t have the answers. I take full responsibility of not being able to score. I just apologise to everyone; every single Man City supporter, every supporter that travelled, because in the end it’s embarrassing. Honestly, I don’t know what to say because I don’t have the answers, and what I can say is sorry.”
Haaland’s form has been strong this season, with 26 goals and four assists in 31 appearances across all competitions. However, his return to Norway failed to inspire a goal, continuing a dry spell of eight matches with only a penalty scored against Brighton.
The 25-year-old brushed off questions about fatigue following City’s 2-0 Premier League loss to Manchester United, a game Guardiola described as challenging for the striker. Haaland said: “I don’t want to speak about how I feel or whatever. I do my best whenever I’m on the pitch, [and] I’m on the pitch quite often because we play a ridiculous amount of games. I try to do my best, that’s my job, and I try to get ready for the next game because now another game is in four days so we have to try recover again.”
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