A new-look Manchester City. Same old Erling Haaland.
The Norway striker scored the 300th goal of his club career as City extended their 100% start by beating Coventry 1-0 to stay at the top of the Premier League on Saturday.
Haaland’s 300 goals have come across spells at Molde, Red Bull Salzburg and Borussia Dortmund, as well as City. It has taken him just 384 appearances to reach that milestone, slightly slower than Argentina great Lionel Messi (365) but outpacing both Kylian Mbappé (398) and Cristiano Ronaldo (499).
City have spent more than £450 million ($609m) revamping their squad under new manager Enzo Maresca, but Haaland remains their prize asset.
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His 26th-minute header at the Etihad Stadium provided the decisive moment against newly promoted Coventry and maintained Maresca’s perfect start since taking on the daunting task of following in Pep Guardiola’s footsteps.
The 26-year-old told ESPN afterward that he should have made life easier for his team.
“I should have scored more goals to finish the game off but I didn’t so I made it difficult for the team and managed to keep Coventry in the game until the end,” he told Renato Senise. “In the Premier League if you don’t execute it will be difficult.”
Maresca’s job will be made a lot easier if Haaland can maintain his scoring form, with the forward hitting his third goal in two games.
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“It’s an important win, different from the first two,” Maresca said. “I’m very happy. I know the players day-by-day, we know each other. It means we will get better and better.”
City’s lavish spending in the post-Guardiola era carried on right up until deadline day with the signings of Enzo Fernández and Iliman Ndiaye. Both started against Coventry, as did another big-money summer arrival, Elliot Anderson.
“I think we brought in plenty of players who know the level,” Haaland said. “Enzo Fernández knows how it is to win things and play in the Premier League. He will go straight into the team, same with Elliot, he played in the Premier League for a long time and he played for England with the national team so he knows how it is to play for a top team.
“We have to try to build something and we have to try to make them feel as welcome as possible — as they did when I arrived to City. I came straight in and I delivered and that’s what you expect from good players.”
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City are three points clear of defending champions Arsenal, who will play Chelsea on Sunday.
“[We] started with a win, so it couldn’t get any better,” Ndiaye said.
Information from ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
