Erling Haaland on Man City motivation: I've won everything at 23 - now I have taste for it

Norwegian striker goes into Champions League last-16 second-leg against Copenhagen looking for a repeat of last season's success

Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's final goal in their 3-1 Premier League win over Manchester United at Etihad Stadium on March 3, 2024. Getty Images

Erling Haaland has described how winning the treble in his first season at Manchester City has given him “the taste” to do the same this time round.

The reigning European champions take a 3-1 advantage into Wednesday's Champions League last-16 second leg against FC Copenhagen at the Etihad Stadium thanks to goals from Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden in Denmark.

Foden was on target twice in Sunday's Premier League derby win over Manchester United that kept City one point behind leaders Liverpool – with the two top clubs facing-off on Sunday.

Pep Guardiola's side are also still going strong in the FA Cup where they take on Newcastle United at home for a place in the semi-finals.

It means City remain on course for a repeat of last season's treble, which saw them become European Cup winners for the first time.

And Haaland, who scored the final goal in the 3-1 comeback win over United, says all that success has only increased his appetite for more silverware.

“You can think about it in two ways,” said the Norwegian, who is joint top-scorer in this year's Champions League with five goals.

“One thing, I came here and won it all, and the other thing, I'm 23 years old and I won everything and I got the taste of it, how it is to win everything.

“How I work is that when I feel this is, I want to win it again. Easy as that.”

City v United player ratings

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  MAN CITY RATINGS: No chance for Rashford's opener. Did well when called into action. Came out of his box to head the ball to safety as Fernandes bore down on goal. Great tackle on Garnacho as he raced into box late on. Usual slick distribution. Getty Images

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  Did well to nick ball off McTominay and snuff out United break early doors. Powerful shot from edge of the box deflected for a corner just before interval. Nicked ball off Rashford when he was on the charge. Shot saved by Onana on 70 minutes. Getty Images

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  A generally quiet shift for the peerless Portuguese as United offered little going forward for most of the match. Solid as a rock when required. Getty Images

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  Great block to prevent Garnacho cross reaching Rashford in dangerous position in box. Played Fernandes onside in lead-up to Rashford's goal. Read play well to cut out Fernandes pass that would have put Rashford one-on-one with Ederson. Cut out Dalot break. Getty Images

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  Cool, calm and collected as always. Marshalled the City midfield, linking play and probing the spaces. Good shot from edge of box forced Onana save. Getty Images

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  Relishing his advanced role. Silky and assured on the ball. Looked to play teammates in. Run into box led to early penalty shout. AFP

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  Always busy and clever in possession. Never wastes the ball. Switched to left when Alvarez was introduced. AFP

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  Coming back from injury and hasn't quite shaken the rust off yet. Showed flashes of his genius. Sliced an early chance. Almost made amends with a beautiful threaded ball to free Foden, who saw his shot saved by Onana. Skied another half-chance into the upper tier just before the break. EPA

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  A masterclass from the young Englishman in front of Gareth Southgate. City's best player by a distance. Always bright and buzzy, popping up all over the place to play teammates in. Created the space for his own brilliantly struck equaliser, then put City in front superbly with a move that he initiated. Even raced back to make a crucial tackle in the 88th minute. Sheer class. EPA

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  A constant thorn in United's side, running and probing their defence from the left flank. Created a sharp chance for himself with cute movement early on. AFP

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  After his five-for against Luton, an uncharacteristically low-key performance from the Norwegian until his late goal. Miscued header on half hour then somehow missed an open goal from two yards out on stroke of half-time. Getty Images

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  (On for Doku 59'). Lovely one-two with Foden for City's second; Oscar Bobb (on for Foden, 90+7). N/A. EPA

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  MANCHESTR UNITED RATINGS: No chance with any of the City goals. One of his best displays. Cool and confident, distributed the ball well and made several key saves. Positive coming out to punch clear on crosses. Great long ball to Fernandes before Rashford goal. Action Images

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  Good clearing header from early Foden shot. Showed more attacking intent as first half went on. Couple of quality passes to set teammates clear. Under the cosh like the rest of his team. AFP

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  Made several timely interventions to save his side when under extreme pressure. A strong performance at the heart of United's defence in the face of a City onslaught. Getty Images

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  The old-timer certainly didn't disgrace himself and put in a solid shift as his side faced relentless pressure. Great last-ditch tackle just after break. PA

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  Again asked to operate at left-back in the absence of the injured Luke Shaw. Worked hard to keep United's low defensive block intact. Put in a good tackle to deny Foden. AFP

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  The youngster was overwhelmed like the rest of the United midfield but worked hard to try to help his side soak up wave after wave of City attacks. Took a heavy blow to the head when blocking thunderous long-range strike from Foden. Lovely ball to set Garnacho free late on. Getty Images

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  Good first half. Did well to snuff out chance for Stones in six-yard box. Put in some tigerish tackles to disrupt City's rhythm and linked play well in midfield with some clever passes. Ultimately, though, had no answer to the home side's quality. AP

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  Retained in the starting line-up to beef up United's midfield and provide a goal threat. Had some success in the first period. Great early ball to set Garnacho free in space. Clever run to create space for Fernandes to tee up Rashford for the opening goal. Ended the game as a virtual bystander, though. AP

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  Did brilliantly to hold ball up and then set up Rashford for opener. Another probing pass almost sent Rashford clear. Living off scraps as City dominated. EPA

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  A game to forget for the brilliant young Argentine. Guilty of giving the ball away too cheaply, too often when his side were under huge pressure. His touch let him down several times when in promising situations. Good break into box late in game. AFP

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  The England conundrum's season was encapsulated in this erratic display. A breathtaking strike for United's opener but then made a total hash of several good chances. Went down far too easily to surrender possession just before Foden's equaliser. He was hooked after 74 minutes. PA

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  (On for Evans, '59). Brought on to add fresh legs to United's desperate rearguard action. Did alright. PA

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  (On for Rashford, 75'). Caught offside when put in by Fernandes. Made another break late in game but could do nothing with it. PA

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  (On for Mainoo, 82'). Coughed up possession for Haaland's goal; Omari Forson (on for Garnacho, 82'). N/A. Getty Images

Haaland has scored a remarkable 80 goals in 84 appearances since joining in the summer of 2022 and is contracted to City until 2027.

And while the Norwegian refused to answer questions on whether he might sign a new longer-term deal at the club, saying his focus is “on the pitch”, he made it clear he was enjoying life in Manchester.

“I’m really happy, especially with the people that I’m surrounded with; the manager, the directors, the board, they are a group of amazing people and I’m really happy, I have to say,” he said.

“If I say this now it’s probably gonna be a massive headline: tomorrow you never know what the future brings, but I’m happy. You can write this but you also have to write everything I said before. I’m happy.

“My focus mainly now is on the pitch, there's a lot of games. Two days ago was the Manchester derby, now Champions League. Sunday is Liverpool. I think I should focus on that. I don't think I should focus on anything else at the moment.”

Haaland is once again leading the race to win the Premier League Golden Boot for a second season running with 18 goals, although he did produce one of the misses of the season in the first half on Sunday.

The big striker managed to volley over from only a couple of metres out with the goal at his mercy, much to the amazement of everyone in the Etihad Stadium.

“People say I'm good at scoring goals but I missed the biggest chance in the world ever a couple of days ago,” said the former Borussia Dortmund attacker.

“Yes, I've been missing, I missed a lot of chances. I will still keep on missing chances, but I will still keep on scoring goals.

“I'll probably miss a big chance in the future as well, and people are going to criticise me, but what can I do then? Should I think of that? No, just focus on scoring more goals and to help the team.”

Haaland admitted when he was younger such a miss would have bothered him a lot but now he has learnt to bounce back from disappointments.

“It's been a challenge for me,” he said. “I remember when I was young I would start crying if we lost and I missed a lot of chances.

“I've been working on it a lot and in the end everything is in here [tapping head].”