DBasia.news – Manchester City managed to start their pre-season tour of the United States with a win. Even so, Erling Haaland is still kept by Pep Guardiola, the manager.
Manchester City defeated Club America with a narrow score of 2-1 at NRG Stadium, Thursday (21/7) morning WIB. Kevin de Bruyne scored both goals for The Citizens in the first half.
In this match, Guardiola played his best players. Julian Alvarez and Calvin Phillips also had the opportunity to play.
Meanwhile, Haaland had a different fate. The Norwegian striker just sat on the bench until the game was over.
This of course makes the public curious. Haaland’s appearance with Manchester City is indeed quite interesting.
But Guardiola has a strong reason not to play Haaland. The former Borussia Dortmund striker was apparently in an unfit condition.
“Erling had problems. He only trained for two sessions and we don’t want to take any risks because this season is long,” Guardiola said after the game.
Manchester City signed Haaland from Dortmund for around 51 million pounds this summer. He is projected to be the main focus to score goals.
Even so, Haaland’s quality has not been tested in the Premier League. He also has to adapt to the style of play that is applied by Guardiola.
“Next match, Erling will be ready. We’ll see,” he added.
Manchester City are scheduled to take on Bayern Munich this weekend in the continuation of their pre-season tour. After that they will return to England to prepare for the Community Shield event and the Premier League’s 2022-2023 opener.