Guardiola Compares Haaland's Goalscoring Prowess To Messi And Ronaldo
Pep Guardiola has compared the goalscoring abilities of Erling Haaland to those of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Haaland reached 30 Premier League goals for the season after scoring twice in Manchester City's 4-1 win at Southampton on Saturday.
His second goal was particularly brilliant; a stunning overhead kick from Jack Grealish's cross.
In his first season in England, Haaland has reached 44 goals across all competitions, moving level with Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Mohamed Salah as the Premier League players with the most goals for a single campaign.
"We have lived two incredible decades with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, but he is on that level," manager Pep Guardiola told BBC Sport.
"The second goal was amazing. It is not easy to pick the ball up in the sky and put it on the grass."
Guardiola added: "I think our bosses bought him for this type of game. We are uncomfortable and not playing at our best level but he gets the goal.
"The second, you can't imagine at his height he has this ability. Exceptional goal."
Kevin De Bruyne fed Haaland for his opening goal at the Saint Mary's Stadium, taking him onto 100 Premier League assists and the Belgian playmaker was equally effusive about the prolific Norwegian.
"He scores a lot of goals. It is insane. He is there. If we create chances he is there," said De Bruyne.
On Haaland's spectacular second, the Belgian joked: "You will never see me do that! You can get me to Southampton hospital if I do that!
"Haaland is happy here," he added. "He knows we create a lot of chances and he does the rest."
