Erling Haaland

Ilkay Gundogan, Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden who did the damage at the Etihad Stadium before a late own goal from Jefferson Lerma.

City could have scored twice from corners in the first four minutes while Mark Travers distinguished himself with a superb save from Foden. It may only affect their goal difference, with the result a formality long before then; before kick-off, some would suggest, though City made a dominant start to underline a gulf in class. Haaland skewed a shot wide from a pass by Jack Grealish, who had replaced Foden at the break. His goal was something of a role reversal. The newcomer’s two-goal league debut at West Ham had hinted at a shift in approach from Manchester City, a reversion to a more orthodox model of servicing a predatory striker, but this was a reminder they scored 99 league goals last season, many of them in games when no one even resembled a centre-forward. Instead, he got evidence the frontman has joined an ensemble of a band.

Was signing Erling Haaland a great move for Manchester City? Of course, but the deal wasn't as affordable as the commentators will tell you.

The Norwegian, if his time with Borussia Dortmund and his opening match in the Premier League are any indication, is the next big striker. In that context, Erling Haaland’s £51 million transfer to Manchester City seems like an incredible bargain. It’s significantly less common to hear a club be praised for giving a player a reasonable paycheck, although it has been happening more and more as clubs like Arsenal have attempted to reorganize a bloated wage structure.

Manchester City cruised to victory as Erling Haaland registered a strange statistic on his home debut and Mark Travers did well to keep the score down.

Haaland snatched at his best chance of the game when Grealish teed him up, and was then replaced by Julian Alvarez for the final 15 minutes. Foden's shot on goal fizzed off the surface but Travers will be livid with himself for not keeping it out. Sure enough, the opener arrived on 18 minutes when Haaland turned provider and hooked a ball through for Ilkay Gundogan to rifle home from 15 yards out. 30 minutes in and Bournemouth were punished on a ruthless City counter-attack. Travers helped one low shot around his right-hand post before palming over a firm Riyad Mahrez. It was a solid start from the 23-year-old but it soon got better. Haaland had his arms out wide, imploring Foden to square the ball so he could slot home, but the England star backed himself.

MANCHESTER CITY 4-0 BOURNEMOUTH: Erling Haaland registered his first Premier League assist as Pep Guardiola's side reaffirmed just why they are the ...

There was another moment which hinted at the player’s character when he gave the ball away, a quick Bournemouth counter-attack leading to a corner. With just a minute to play of the first period, an instinctive first-time chipped effort on the stretch was tipped over. Understandable really and not only given the striker’s near goal-a-game record but because the City boss has some of the best in the game at doing that already.

Erling Haaland marked his Premier League debut with two goals as Manchester City got off to a winning start and Bournemouth forward Kieffer Moore has been ...

It is a lot of intelligent thinking, positioning and stuff like that really." He said: "I have seen a lot of him throughout his career at Dortmund, and he is an exciting player. Bournemouth travel to Manchester off the back of an impressive opening day 2-0 win over Aston Villa, with Moore, like Haaland, finding the net on his Premier League debut.

The Premier League champions kept up their 100 per cent start to the season by cruising to victory at home.

“I was pleased with the team in the way they stuck with it. To his credit, Haaland had actually played a key role in the opening goal after 19 minutes, holding up an Ilkay Gundogan pass superbly, despite the attention of three markers. The playmaker swept a perfect pass through the legs of Chris Mepham for Foden whose shot was helped into the net by keeper Mark Travers. “With his goal, I said ‘there is no space’ and he scored a goal. It was a day, of course, when the City faithful attended en masse to witness the home debut of another of their players who may one day merit that accolade. “Before last season, he was ‘assist, assist, assist.’ Now he is enjoying winning games and scoring goals.

The Norwegian striker netted twice in Man City's opening day Premier League victory at West Ham and his decisiveness in the final third continued on ...

Leeds travelled to Southampton – who were hopeful of doing better than their 4-1 loss at Tottenham a week ago in North London. Rodrigo opened the scoring for the visitors just after the break and doubled his tally less than 20 minutes later. Gabriel Jesus scored his first competitive goal for Arsenal as he provided a stunning finish to open the scoring against Leicester midway through the opening half. The Norwegian striker – who bagged twice on his league debut in last week’s opening day victory at West Ham – did not touch the ball for the first 18 minutes of Manchester City ’s clash with Bournemouth, before then providing the vital touch.

Pep Guardiola has waxed lyrical about Erling Haaland, but the Manchester City boss says Lionel Messi was a better player than him at 22.

The site owner may have set restrictions that prevent you from accessing the site. The site owner may have set restrictions that prevent you from accessing the site. Contact the site owner for access or try loading the page again.

Manchester City obliterated Bournemouth at the Etihad in one of the least shocking results in Premier League history but Erling Haaland will rest easy ...

Nevertheless, Haaland still managed to make an impact, setting up Gundogan for the opener after 18 minutes. That is just one more than the record, which belongs to Romelu Lukaku after his seven touches against Crystal Palace last season for Chelsea. On an afternoon where the top-tier new boys were always hoping for a miracle, they came up against an awe-inspired Kevin de Bruyne instead.

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland completed two passes in his side's 4-0 win over Bournemouth on Saturday.

He told The Athletic: "The most difficult job in the world is when you're a striker vs a [defence] with three CMs, three CBs and you're in the middle. We'll find many of these but it's a question of time. Haaland helped set up Ilkay Gundogan for the opening goal 19 minutes in and after that, his only completed pass was to start the second half.

Ilkay Gundogan, Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden who did the damage at the Etihad Stadium before a late own goal from Jefferson Lerma.

Haaland was a spectator again as City went 3-0 up seven minutes before the break. Haaland teed up Gundogan for the opener but finished the first half with barely more touches, five, than City had goals, three. The Belgian cut in from the right-hand side and, as defenders converged on the edge of the penalty box, curled home a shot with the outside of his boot.

Bournemouth succeeded where so many have failed and will surely do in the future, in denying Erling Haaland a goal, but it was of scant consolation as Pep ...

ERLING HAALAND completed just two passes against Bournemouth - by far the lowest total by a Manchester City player under Pep Guardiola.The first of Ha.

With the quality we have, we'll find him." The Spaniard said: "The most difficult job in the world is when you're a striker vs a [defence] with three CMs, three CBs and you're in the middle. And by the time Julian Alvarez replaced him in the 74th minute with City 3-0 up, he had won NO duels on the ground or in the air.

City eased to a 4-0 win against Bournemouth at the Etihad Stadium, with De Bruyne playing a key role in proceedings. The Belgian scored a superb solo goal to ...

"He played really well," De Bruyne said of Haaland when speaking to BBC Sport. "Obviously it's so tight. De Bruyne thought his young teammate played well but pointed out one way that he could adapt his game to the Premier League. City eased to a 4-0 win against Bournemouth at the Etihad Stadium, with De Bruyne playing a key role in proceedings.