Erling Haaland has told Manchester City’s wingers, including Jeremy Doku, that they must learn to read the game better after City suffered a 2-1 defeat by Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday.
Enzo Maresca’s side had gone into the game at Villa Park chasing a club-record eighth successive league victory, but a brace from Nicolas Jackson proved decisive.
The Senegalese forward opened the scoring after six minutes before restoring Villa’s lead on the hour mark, either side of a Haaland header that had briefly levelled the contest.
Haaland: wingers must know when to go and when to hold
Speaking after the match, Haaland pinpointed decision-making out wide as an area City must improve, insisting the team as a whole needs to do more to put its attacking players in positive positions.
“We need to set up the wingers and then the wingers need to know when to go for it, when to keep the ball,” he said after the match per City Xtra
The 26-year-old, who continued his strong scoring form by getting on the scoresheet again, said City had created enough to win the game but were ultimately punished for not taking their chances.
“I think, honestly, we did some good things, don’t get me wrong. We had chances, look at Josko [Gvardiol] in the second-half, I had a few headers, in the first-half as well Ili [Ndiaye] hit the post.
“It’s not unlucky, but we have to be more clinical and we have to put the ball in the back of the net because that’s what you have to do in football games.”
Jackson’s clinical edge punishes City again
Haaland was generous in his praise of Villa’s finishing, acknowledging that Unai Emery’s side made the most of the few opportunities that came their way.
“They [Aston Villa] had two shots, two goals. That’s really clinical, well done. [Nicolas] Jackson was incredible today, an incredible match, so well done to him.
“I think small things we can do better; know when to go, when to keep the ball, when to drop them a bit more, and I also think we can win more duels, fight a bit more. I don’t know, I don’t have the answer, I haven’t seen the game again.
“But there is things we can do better and, again, I can score more goals. So there’s plenty of things we can do better.”
City had chances to avoid defeat, with captain Rúben Dias forced into a crucial last-ditch tackle to deny Alysson from doubling the hosts’ lead before half-time.
Maresca made a double change at the interval, sending on Rico Lewis and Phil Foden for Guéhi and Cherki, both of whom were on yellow cards, and the switch paid an immediate dividend as City drew level through Haaland within seven minutes of the restart.
City continued to press for an equaliser, with Haaland and Doku both going close, but the hosts held firm to continue what has become a troublesome record for City at Villa Park.
On the Villa side, full-back Matty Cash credited the club’s summer business for the win, highlighting the impact of two of the club’s new signings.
“The manager gives us tasks but you have to take responsibility too, I do a lot of work on wingers, I think as a full back you have to try and get aggressive and it makes them difficult for them,” he told TNT Sports.
The defeat represents Maresca’s first Premier League loss since replacing Pep Guardiola at the Etihad Stadium in the summer, bringing a halt to an unbeaten run that had marked a promising start to the Italian’s tenure.
City will now look to regroup quickly as they continue their pursuit of silverware this season, with Haaland’s call for sharper decision-making among the forward line likely to be a key talking point on the training ground this week.
