Erling Haaland asked to be substituted and limped from the pitch during Norway’s defeat to Portugal on Sunday, but his manager has played down fears of a serious issue.
Manchester City fans haven’t had much to be cheerful about over the international break so far, but an injury to Erling Haaland was one of a few things that could definitely have made things worse.
Haaland has scored seven goals in seven games for City this season, and he kicked off the international break with three goals in two against Denmark and Portugal.
But after a blank against Wales, Haaland asked to be substituted in the 67th minute in Norway’s second Portugal match, and he limped from the field.
City supporters will be particularly concerned about Haaland’s fitness because of the games they have coming up, travelling away to Anfield to face Liverpool on Sunday, before hosting Paris Saint-Germain next Wednesday.
But manager Stale Solbakken has played down concerns over Haaland’s fitness, suggesting the striker actually played for longer than they’d planned.
“Erling dug for a long time,” Solbakken said. “I think he took a lot of beatings and was a very good point guard. We were hoping for 60 (minutes), and he managed 65. That’s a lot of positives.”
Norway teammate Patrick Berg also suggested Haaland’s main problem was simply running out of steam, having played every minute of the international break up until his substitution.
“Of course, we know that he is the world’s best goal-scorer, and probably the one who scores goals most often for us,” Berg said. “We would love to have him on the pitch, but if that stops, then it stops our energy.
“He has played all three games before this one, so it’s not that shocking that his strength finally ran out.”
It doesn’t look as though defences are imminently set for a break from City’s 26-year-old striker, but we won’t know for sure until later this week.
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