The Norwegian goal machine was surprisingly absent in Manchester City’s defeat to Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup.
Erling Haaland did not play in Manchester City’s last game as manager Pep Guardiola wanted to rest him.
In Wednesday’s 1-0 Carabao Cup defeat to Newcastle, fans were left puzzled. Haaland, City’s leading scorer, remained on the bench throughout the third-round tie. Julian Alvarez led the attack in the Norwegian’s stead.
Shedding light on his decision, Guardiola explained the need to manage Haaland’s workload to avoid any potential burnout later in the season.
“I thought Kyle [Walker had played] a lot of minutes, Erling a lot of minutes. We have a lot of games ahead of us,” the manager said in a post-match conference.
In 2023/24, Haaland has accumulated 774 minutes of football in nine appearances across all club competitions. The 23-year-old striker has scored eight goals and dished out two assists for City so far.
He will hope to get back in Guardiola’s XI for Saturday’s trip to Wolves in the Premier League.
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