Manchester City striker Erling Haaland criticised his own performances after the defending Premier League champions were consigned to a convincing 2-1 loss at Villa Park on Saturday.
Aston Villa were the latest side to romp to victory over City. After two chances in as many minutes, the hosts eventually took a first-half lead through Jhon Duran in the 16th minute before Morgan Rogers doubled their advantage after the hour mark.
Phil Foden reduced the deficit for City in second-half stoppage time, but the visitors were second best for the majority of the match. Once again, Haaland’s impact was limited. The Premier League’s back-to-back Golden Boot winner has scored once in his last six appearances.
Haaland had a typically minimalistic 18 touches, but only one was in Villa’s box and he was able to muster just a single, wildly off-target shot throughout 90 blunt minutes.
Reflecting on the 2-1 reverse in a post-match interview with TNT Sports, Haaland admitted: “We are disappointed, it’s not good enough. It’s not good enough from me.”
The striker pointed out that Villa offered their own qualities, while chastising his own poor form. “They’re good players, it’s difficult to come here but we’re Man City we should be out there,” Haaland sighed. “We have to continue, we have to believe and we have to keep working hard.
“We have to continue. First I’m looking at myself, I haven’t been doing things good enough, I haven’t been scoring my chances. I have to do better, I haven’t been good enough.”
City once again out-shot Villa (12 to 11) and have amassed a division-high 294 efforts this season. However, Pep Guardiola’s champions have found the back of the net with just 9.9% of those chances – the lowest conversion rate recorded by the club since records began in the 2006/07 campaign.
Beyond the self-criticism, Haaland offered a whisper of optimism when considering the qualities of Guardiola. “He won the Premier League six times in seven years,” the Norway international noted, “so we will never forget that. He will find the solutions. He has been doing that every single year. We still believe in him, we have to work harder than ever right now.”