‘That was a shocker’ – Erling Haaland left Man City fans perplexed after horror miss in Liverpool defeat

Manchester City star Erling Haaland left fans shocked for all the wrong reasons on Saturday, missing a point-blank opportunity in the dying embers of the Sky Blues’ Community Shield defeat against Liverpool.

The Norwegian, who arrived from Borussia Dortmund this summer in a blockbuster £51million deal, struggled to make his mark on Saturday and the late howler will have left an even worse taste in his mouth.

Having a central striker is still something of a novelty for City, having won the Premier League last term without a senior frontman in their squad. And that showed on Saturday, when Liverpool ran out 3-1 at the King Power Stadium to win the Community Shield.

Haaland, who arrived in Manchester under the weight of great expectations due to an exceptional goal-scoring record at club and international level, made a series of runs in behind that were ignored by his City team-mates in the first half.

When found he showed strength and determination, going close on a couple of occasions, but his frustrating afternoon was capped off in second-half stoppage time.

Phil Foden’s low strike forced Adrian into a low save which was parried straight into Haaland’s path. But from inside the six-yard box, he spooned it onto the top of the crossbar prompting a huge reaction from inside the stadium.

This has led to plenty of Man City fans taking to social media to express their dissatisfaction.

“That was a shocker, can’t lie.”
Credit: @SheikhManCity08

“We sold sterling for this”
Credit: @AbzSemtex

“Nah I can’t believe this….”
Credit: @JMC_OfficiaI

“No way sterling hasn’t left us alone.”
Credit: @ABeg97

“We bought a Sterling regen.”
Credit: @MCFCJakes

“Can’t believe what i just saw, worst game ever!!.”
Credit: @lma86756411

“Alavarez looked 10 times better than Haaland today”
Credit: @Allsportrep

Early signs are that the team will have to adapt to Haaland, not the other way around. Forward runs are his biggest strength and he’s nullified if his teammates don’t play him in, but other than that bad late miss he didn’t do much wrong.

As Haaland trains more with the team and gets more onto the same wavelength as De Bruyne – there were a few moments where a defence-splitting ball looked on – the rhythm will slot into this well-oiled machine.