Erling Haaland says Manchester City need to avoid thinking about Arsenal, after their 5-4 win over Fulham on Tuesday night brought them to within two points of the Gunners.
Manchester City briefly looked to be back to their best on Tuesday night, racing into a 5-1 lead over Fulham by the 54th minute of the game.
Yet things started to fall apart after that, with Fulham scoring three goals over the next half hour to set up a frantic finish. It was only a goalline clearance that ultimately denied the hosts a draw.
Speaking after the game, Erling Haaland admitted it was important for City to pick up three points, given Arsenal had already done the same at the same ground. But the striker then added that City shouldn’t spend too much time thinking about Mikel Arteta’s side.
“Arsenal came here and they won as well,” Haaland began. “So, we know how difficult it is to come here and Fulham is a great team.
“But again, we shouldn’t think too much about Arsenal. We should focus on ourselves, try to improve and avoid things like this happen today, because it’s not good enough.
“We all know this and we need to improve as a team. That’s what our focus should be.”
Haaland has been on the rampage so far this season, scoring 20 goals in his 19 appearances for City in all competitions.
Yet City haven’t always been so impressive as a unit, already losing four Premier League fixtures a third of the way into the season, and losing their most recent match in the Champions League as well.
Even so, they sit just two points behind Arsenal in the Premier League at the time of writing. The Gunners can extend that to five with a win over Brentford on Wednesday night, but the gap is certainly a small one with so long remaining in the season.
If City really do start to focus on themselves and improving their performances, Arsenal will have their work cut out to maintain that gap at the top.