Praising Erling Haaland 'routine' - Pep Guardiola

Manchester City boss hails striker's awareness after brace in 4-0 Champions League win over Sevilla

Manchester City's Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring in the 4-0 Champions League victory over Sevilla at Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on September 6, 2022. Getty

Erling Haaland scores to give City a 1-0 lead. EPA

Haaland celebrates with teammate Kevin De Bruyne. EPA

Erling Haaland in action. PA

Sevilla's Marcos Acuna with City's Erling Haaland. Getty

Sevilla coach Julen Lopetegui greets Manchester City Pep Guardiola ahead of the the match. EPA

Phil Foden celebrates scoring City's second goal with Joao Cancelo. Reuters

Erling Haaland after scoring City's third goal in Seville. AFP

Erling Haaland scores the third goal past Sevilla's Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou. AFP

City's Ruben Dias celebrates scoring their fourth goal with Manuel Akanji. Reuters

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said praising new striker Erling Haaland has become part of his "routine" after the Norwegian striker continued his rich vein of form in the Champions League.

Haaland took his tally to 12 goals in eight games across competitions for City with a brace in the 4-0 Group G win at Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán on Tuesday.

At 22 years and 47 days, Haaland is the youngest player to score 25 goals in the Champions League, breaking Kylian Mbappe's previous record. The Norwegian is also the fastest to reach the landmark, achieving it in 20 matches.

"I love this routine, but it's been a routine in every single press conference after the game, asking me about him and his goals. Hopefully he can continue this routine, but the numbers speak for themselves," Guardiola told reporters.

"It's not just two goals, he's always just there and always with the feeling that he would score more goals."

Guardiola praised Haaland’s awareness, saying the former Borussia Dortmund striker had an "incredible sense" of where the goal was.

He said: “I think his numbers in all his career – not just here, when he was in previous teams – is quite similar. He has an incredible sense of goal.

“He scored two in the centre and had [the chances] for two or three more. We have incredible numbers scoring goals and [we want] to continue like that.

“We have another battle against Tottenham [in the Premier League] on Saturday and hopefully he can continue scoring goals.”

Sevilla v Man City ratings

SEVILLA RATINGS: Bono – 4. Never stood a chance for the goals, made some important saves to limit Manchester City to just four with their dominance. AFP

Marcos Acuña – 2. Struggled to cope with Man City’s forward pressing when playing out the back. Getty Images

Tanguy Nianzou – 2. Had a tough time handling the movement and physicality of Haaland like the rest of the defence. AFP

Jesús Navas – 3. Looked to cause problems down the right-hand side against his former club, however nothing which caused any danger. Getty Images

Sevilla's Jesus Navas (left) and Manchester City's Bernardo Silva battle for the ball during the UEFA Champions League Group G match at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium in Seville, Spain. Picture date: Tuesday September 6, 2022.

Nemanja Gudelj – 2. Was outclassed by the away side's midfield and struggled in the first half bringing the ball forward with no physical presence up top. AP Photo

Thomas Delaney – 2. Wasn’t a great performance from the Dane who was hooked off at half time by manager Julen Lopetegui. AFP

Alex Telles – 3. Performed okay considering he was in a more further forward role than he is used to, but not the Manchester United loanee’s most memorable outing. AFP

Ivan Rakitić – 2. Struggled to bring any kind of creativity into the match for Sevilla, an off day for the former Barcelona man who came off at half time. EPA

Papu Gómez – 4. His pace offered a threat in the final third but going forward his side created little. EPA

Isco- 3. The Spaniard tried dropping deeper at times to get into the game and create some attacks. However, City's pressing proved too much for him. AFP

SUBS: Kasper Dolberg – 4. Came on for Telles in the 56th minute, created a few half chances but nothing to scare City. AFP

Luca De La Torre – 3. Replaced Gomez in the 73rd minute, struggled to make an impact on the game. Getty Images

Joan Jordán – 5. Subbed on for Delaney at half time, added some much-needed energy into his side’s midfield but didn’t affect the outcome of the match. Getty Images

Adnan Januzaj – N/A. Replaced Isco in the 78th minute, was too late to turn his sides fortunes with them being 3-0 down. AFP

Rafa Mir – 6. Came on for Rakitic at half time, he gave Sevilla a physical presence up top which helped the Spanish side but struggled to have any real chances. AP Photo

MANCHESTER CITY RATINGS: Ederson – 7. A quiet day at the office for Ederson, who spent most of the game watching his side playing in the opponent’s half. Getty Images

Sergio Gómez – 8. Didn’t have too much to do defensively, however, brought energy coming forward and looked bright going down the left. AP Photo

Rúben Dias – 9. Will be pleased with another clean sheet for his side and topped it off by making it 4-0 in the dying embers at point blank range. Getty Images

Manuel Akanji – 8. An impressive debut for the Swiss defender despite not having too much to do, looked comfortable in possession and settled into the side already. Getty Images

João Cancelo – 8. Defensively didn’t face any problems and was able to create numerous chances going forward down the right. Reuters

Bernardo Silva – 7. Looked assured in the midfield and a composed performance which Pep Guardiola will be happy with. AP Photo

Rodri – 8. Played a key role in not giving the Sevilla midfield a look-in all match. His physical presence in the middle of the park caused problems for Sevilla. AFP

Kevin De Bruyne – 9. A routine assist for the Belgian who is beginning to form a dangerous connection with Haaland, who was on the end of the midfielder's cross to make it 1-0. PA

Jack Grealish – 8. Was effective cutting in from the left-hand side, overall, a decent showing after a spell out the team with injury. PA

Phil Foden – 9. Showed great composure for his goal in the second half which was a fine finish. Was a threat all match making dangerous runs down the right. Getty Images

Erling Haaland – 10. Added another two goals to his prolific Champions League scoring record with yet another excellent performance. His physicality and poacher's instinct proved too much for the Sevilla defence. EPA

SUBS: Ilkay Gundogan – 7. Subbed on for Grealish in the 62nd minute, it was steady cruising after he came on with his side 2-0 up and wasn’t left with much to do .AP Photo

Julián Álvarez – N/A. Subbed on for Haaland in the 71st minute, provided some pressing with his fresh legs on the opposition defence. Getty Images

Cole Palmer – N/A. Came on for Foden in the 71st minute, the youngster looked a constant threat when on and almost got on the scoresheet late on. Getty Images

Kalvin Phillips – 7. Replaced Rodri on 78 minutes, played some exceptional long-distance diagonal passes from the midfield while his side looked to put the tie to bed. AFP

Riyad Mahrez – N/A. Replaced De Bruyne on 78 minutes, went through the motions with his team cruising. Getty Images

City captain Kevin de Bruyne fired an ominous warning to rivals by predicting that Haaland can only get better the more in sync he becomes with his teammates.

De Bruyne, who teed up Haaland’s 20th-minute opener in Seville, told BT Sport: “I try to do my job, make the right movements and try to create as many chances as I can.

“I know, one way or another, Erling is going to be there. For the moment he is scoring the goals and obviously it helps us win games, and it is a pretty good thing for him. A perfect start.

“The way he has adapted to us is really good but I think outside the goalscoring there is another part in the game, and I think that part is maybe more tough to adapt to.

“But it makes it more exciting that if he can adjust to the way we play then the level is going to go up and that is what we demand from him.

“If you score that much you can get away with a little bit more but he knows, and we know, we can still do better.”

Haaland's goals for Man City

1) Erling Haaland opened his Manchester City goals account with a penalty in the 2-0 win against West Ham United at London Stadium on August 7, 2022. Getty

2) Haaland celebrates after also scoring the second goal against West Ham. Reuters

3) Haaland was on target again in the thrilling 3-3 draw against Newcastle United St James' Park on August 21, 2022. Getty

4) City fell two behind at home to Crystal Palace on August 27, but a shock was averted. Haaland celebrates after scoring their second goal in a 4-2 win. EPA

5) ...and the Norwegian soon added their third against Palace. AP

6) ... and their fourth for his first City hat-trick. PA

7) Haaland clearly enjoyed scoring a treble, so he helped himself to another in the 6-0 destruction of Nottingham Forest at Etihad Stadium on August 31, 2022. This was the first. Getty

8) Haaland celebrates after scoring his second goal against Forest. EPA

9) Haaland completes his hat-trick against Forest. AFP

10) Doubles figures for Haaland on September 3 as he scores in the 1-1 draw at Aston Villa. Action Images

11) Haaland opens his City Champions League account with the opening goal in the 4-0 victory at Sevilla on September 6. EPA

12) Haaland celebrates with teammates after scoring his second and City's third against Sevilla. Getty

13) Erling Haaland scores a spectacular winner in the 2-1 Champions League victory against former club Borussia Dortmund at the Etihad stadium on September 14, 2022. AP

14) Haaland on the mark again, this time in the 3-0 win at Wolves on September 17. PA

15) A first Manchester derby for Erling Haaland, and he scores the second goal in City's 6-3 Premier League win against United on October 2, 2022. Getty

16) No stopping the Norwegian in the derby as he scores again against United. PA

17) Haaland scores City's fifth goal against United and completes his hat-trick. Reuters

18) Erling Haaland celebrates scoring the opening goal in the Champions League win against FC Copenhagen on October 5, 2022. PA

19) Erling Haaland scores his second goal against FC Copenhagen - and was taken off at half-time to spare them more punishment. AP

20) Erling Haaland scored his 20th of the season in the 4-0 rout against Southampton on October 8. EPA

21) Haaland celebrates after scoring City's opening goal in the 3-1 Premier League win against Brighton at Etihad Stadium on October 22, 2022. PA

22) Haaland adds his 22nd goal for City from the penalty spot against Brighton. Getty

23) Erling Haaland is congratulated by his teammates after scoring the late winner in the 2-1 victory against Fulham at Etihad Stadium on November 5, 2022. AP

24) Haaland celebrates scoring the opening goal in the 3-2 League Cup fourth round win against at Liverpool at Etihad Stadium on December 22, 2022. Getty

25) A quarter of a century as Haaland celebrates scoring City's second goal in the 3-1 Premier League win against Leeds at Elland Road on December 28, 2022. PA

26) And another against Leeds on the same night. PA

27) Rounding off the year with another goal, but a surprise draw, Haaland scored in the 1-1 Premier League game against Everton at the Etihad Stadium on December 31, 2022. AFP

28) Haaland heads City's second in the 4-2 Premier League win against Tottenham at the Etihad Stadium on January 19, 2023. PA

29) Haaland after scoring the first in the 3-0 Premier League win against Wolves at Etihad Stadium on January 22, 2023. Getty

30) Yes, 30 for the season in January, as he nets again against Wolves. PA

31) Wolves suffer even more as Haaland completes his hat-trick. AFP

32) A crucial game in the title race and Haaland scores City's third in the 3-1 win against Arsenal at Emirates Stadium on February 15, 2023. Getty

33) Bournemouth goalkeeper Neto fails to stop Haaland from scoring City's second goal in their 4-1 Premier League win at the Vitality Stadium on February 25, 2023. PA

34) City players celebrate after Haaland scores the only goal in the Premier League win against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on March 11, 2023. Getty

35) The start of an incredible night - even by Haaland's astonishing standards - as he scores the first goal in the 7-0 Champions League destruction of RB Leipzig at the Etihad Stadium on March 14, 2023. AFP

36) ... No 2 on the night soon followed. Action Images

37) Haaland had a hat-trick before half-time. AFP

38) But three was not enough for Haaland as he celebrates his fourth against Leipzig. AP

39) Five on the night against RB Leipzig and up to 39 for the season - a City record - and it's only midway through March. AP