Man City suffer Champions League humiliation as Erling Haaland concerns grow

BODO/GLIMT 3-1 MANCHESTER CITY: Pep Guardiola watched his defence get cut apart time and time again as the team sat second in Norway enjoyed one of their most memorable nights

Manchester City lost in a town that couldn’t even fill the Etihad as Bodo/Glimt secured one of their greatest ever results by downing the Premier League giants.

Pep Guardiola‘s side were unable to deal with the Norwegians, who could’ve enjoyed their victory by an ever greater margin, such were their chances. City boasted their usual quality in midfield and attack, but their backline was decimated by injuries and simply couldn’t cope.

Bodo/Glimt began to dream midway through the first-half when Kasper Hogh scored twice inside two minutes. His first came when he headed home at the back post, unchallenged, past Gianluigi Donnarumma.

His second came minutes later as Bodo/Glimt hit City on the break, leaving Hogh to finish first time past Donnarumma as the home fans began to dream.

The expectation was for the Manchester outfit, no doubt reeling from some firm words from Guardiola, to rally in the second 45 minutes, but things went from bad to worse. Jens Petter Hauge, who scored a brace against Tottenham in last year’s Europa League, would curl home a stunning third.

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City’s hopes of a comeback were dashed almost as quickly as they were ignited. Rayan Cherki scored from outside the box to give the visitors a glimmer of home with half an hour to go, but two minutes later and Rodri was given his marching orders after he was shown a second yellow.

Rarely during his career at the top level of European football will Erling Haaland get the chance to play in his homeland. If Tuesday night is anything to go by he’ll be in no rush to return as the country’s talisman fired another blank in front of the fans who will cheer him on at this summer’s World Cup.

Haaland is on course to win another Premier League Golden Boot, but that is currently owing to a blistering start with his goals drying up as of late. Prolific for so long, but by his high standards he has been well below his best and he missed a huge opportunity to get City back into the game in the first-half.

Striking the ball on the half volley, barely 12 yards out, Haaland’s left foot shot didn’t even hit the target. The camera continued to pan to the striker’s reaction every time City conceded and he cut a figure barely able to believe what he was witnessing.

Guardiola’s side are still poised to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League, but may have to negotiate the difficult play-off phase, which saw them eliminated last year.

If City are to do anything in Europe, or domestically for that matter, they’ll want to find the Haaland who scored 14 times in the first 11 games of the season. Not the man who is in the midst of one goal in his last eight games.

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