Manchester City and Erling Haaland needed just two moments in MCIWHU to demonstrate why they will be such a potent combination in the Premier League, writes twoht
‘Dour’ isn’t a word that you hear too much of in the modern Premier League, but back in the days when players used boots like clogs and balls like cannonballs, it was everywhere. In the gloom of the under-powered floodlights of the past, football in this country was played with a mood of steely determination, on pitches of sand and precious little grass.
Fuelled by riches borne of fossil fuels in a far-off country, City have glinted and gleamed their way to five of the last six Premier League titles. They are a project, a world of luxury that would have been unrecognisable to anybody when David Moyes was plying his trade for Celtic. They are about marquee signings, and they are about control.
But product football is all about ‘moments’ and marquee signings, and with nine minutes to play of the first half those two combined for the only moment of true significance in the first 45 minutes. The depth of the West Ham back line was such that the pass had to be perfect in terms of both weight and direction, and Ilkay Gundogan hit both, passing between two central defenders with the precision of Olympic curler for Erling Haaland, the marquee summer signing , to run onto.
None of this is intended as a criticism of either team. Both were doing their jobs. Manchester City are control freaks, and they were controlling the game. West Ham were sitting back, because attempting to defend with a high line against Erling Haaland would be to sign a death warrant for their hopes of taking anything from the game, and other than the penalty City chances had been few and far between.
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