15 April 2023 , 20:21
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Erling Haaland is so good that even Jamie Vardy had to laugh.
Haaland had just helped himself to his second goal of the game and Leicester were about to kick off for a third time in the opening 25 minutes when Vardy shared a word with the Norwegian and grinned at the madness of it all. Don’t think for a second that the man with a Golden Boot of his own wasn’t hurting.
It’s just that Haaland is so head-shakingly brilliant that sometimes it’s impossible not to smile. Even when you’re on the receiving end.
Haaland’s tally for the season is now 47. Thirty-two of them have come in the Premier League - equalling the record set in a 38-game season by Mo Salah. And to think, there are some people who don’t think Haaland has been the player of the season.
City’s win cut Arsenal ’s lead at the top of the table to three points - and the Gunners go to the Etihad on Wednesday week. They also have a seven-goal advantage over Mikel Arteta’s men.
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City travel to Munich on Wednesday to face Bayern with a three-goal Champions League lead. On Saturday they meet Sheffield United in the FA Cup semi-finals. But even if Guardiola’s men fail to lift a trophy this season, Haaland deserves all the accolades.
He is making history, scoring at a rate that hasn’t been seen since centre-forwards wore baggy shorts and knocked defenders around despite a daily diet of best bitter and 20 Woodbines. Haaland didn’t appear for the second half - and neither did Vardy.
Maybe new Leicester boss Dean Smith didn’t like his No 9 fraternising with the enemy when the 2016 champions are four points adrift of safety. If only Smith hadn’t issued his own declaration of damage limitation with a tactical plan that employed Vardy in a five-man midfield playing in front of a five-man defence.
Leicester City's Jamie Vardy looks to laugh with Manchester City's Erling Haaland (ESPN)The champions needed five minutes to leave Smith scratching his head. Rodri out-jumped Vardy on the edge of Leicester’s box and when the ball dropped, John Stones connected with the kind of volley that suggested Guardiola really has turned him into the total footballer.
It took City eight minutes to score again. Jack Grealish had already been denied a penalty when Caglar Soyuncu chopped him down from behind when Wilfred Ndidi raised his arm to charge down his cross.
Referee Darren England checked the monitor to confirm the offence - and Haaland buried his shot from the spot in the bottom corner. Haaland’s second goal was a work of art drawn up by Kevin de Bruyne.
The Belgian midfielder powered through a Ndidi tackle that wouldn’t have halted De Bruyne’s seven-year-old son Mason. He then shrugged off Ndidi’s attempt to redeem himself before knifing a pass between Wout Faes and Harry Souttar for Haaland to burst clear and lift a textbook finish over Foxes keeper Daniel Iverson.
Erling Haaland grabbed two goals for Manchester City in their win over Leicester (Getty Images)The Leicester team Smith inherited from Brendan Rodgers are better than this. They should be too good to go down. They got a reward for their second-half improvement when substitute Kelechi Iheanacho was in the right place to punish his former club when Souttar’s header was blocked by a combination of Ederson and Kalvin Phillips.
Only Ederson’s outstretched leg prevented James Maddisson from really testing City’s nerves in the last six minutes and Iheanacho hit the post in injury-time. That would have angered Guardiola and Ruben Dias, the chunk of Portuguese granite that has brought an assuredness to City’s defence that they are certain to need in the coming weeks.
Dias had to sit on the naughty step after Guardiola discovered that he had played for his country at the World Cup with a hamstring that was already damaged.
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But since coming back in 14 games ago, City are unbeaten - and have only lost one of the 33 games Dias has started this season. They will have to defend better than this in the Allianz Arena.