Manchester City forward Erling Haaland may have made it to the Premier League like a duck to water, but he has yet to brush up on his interviewing technique.
The Norwegian striker put all doubts about how he would adapt to English football firmly in bed – and Pep Guardiola‘s style of play – with a monstrous display against West Ham at the London Stadium.
Haaland opened the scoring in the first half, sprinting behind the Hammers defense and poking the ball past Alphonse Areola to win a penalty.
He then stepped up to put the spot, firing the ball into the bottom corner with confidence, before doubling his total for the day in the second period.
This time, Haaland charged back and was singled out by Kevin De Bruyne, with the former Dortmund striker taking his shot early and the ball rolling past Areola for the second time.
The 22-year-old was understandably in good spirits after his brace and got a little carried away in his post-match interview with Sky Sports, which saw Haaland bled twice as he turned the air blue.
When asked if he thought he should have been given a hat-trick, Haaland replied: ‘Yes, it could. If you’ve seen the Gundo [chance] right before I left I should have been there. I screwed up, but that’s the way it is.’
When interviewer Geoff Shreeves chided him for his language, Haaland accidentally put his foot in it a second time and replied, “Oh sorry, s**t. Oh sorry! Not a good language in this country!’
Pundit Roy Keane was a big fan of Haaland’s interview and show after the game, saying: ‘He clearly has no problem with the language – even a few swear words there!
“He spoke of his disappointment at one or two of the opportunities he missed, he’s clearly a grown boy, he’s hungry. Ticked all the boxes and that’s why Man City went after him. Fifty million now seems peanuts. And in the interview there it emerged that he is hungry for more.’
Looking back on his performance, Haaland continued: ‘It was a good start, there’s not much to say other than that and it was 2-0. Good to have some minutes in the legs early in the season and we have to keep going.
“As expected, we saw the potential against Bayern” [Munich in pre-season] and it was a bit down against Liverpool. It will come with games, there should have been more today.
“It’s about the connections that we make every day in training and training so that we get better and this will come.
“There were some good parties, so I’m happy. Nice that he [Dad – Alfie] saw both goals because it’s a big moment for me as a debutant in this league. Even now it’s been almost 30 minutes since I scored the last goal, so I have to keep going.’
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