LEICESTER, England — Erling Haland he’ll have better days in a Manchester City shirt, you can be sure of that, but his first taste of English football saw him roundly overshadowed by Liverpool. Darwin Nunez and teammate of the City Julian Alvarez as the FA Cup champions earned a 3-1 Community Shield victory over last season’s Premier League champions at the King Power Stadium.
Few players in world football generate as much buzz as Haaland, the 22-year-old striker who joined City from Borussia Dortmund in a €60m transfer earlier this summer. The Norway international had his pick of all the major clubs in Europe before agreeing to move to the Etihad and few expect him to do more than score loads of goals en route to trophies galore with Pep Guardiola’s side.
– ESPN+ Guide: LaLiga, Bundesliga, MLS, FA Cup, more (USA)
– Stream ESPN FC Daily on ESPN+ (US only)
– Don’t you have ESPN? Get instant access
But Haaland had a debut to forget against Liverpool. Not only did he fail to score, he barely touched the ball, squandering an easy chance in stoppage time when he hit the crossbar from six meters and saw Nunez, Liverpool’s €75m signing from Benfica, leave him firmly in the box. shadow with a dazzling substitute performance that delivered a goal, an assist and an exciting display of the qualities he will bring to Jurgen Klopp’s side this season.
And then there was Álvarez, the 22-year-old signed from River Plate for €16m, who made his debut for City in spectacular fashion by scoring the equalizer, canceling out Trent Alexander ArnoldThe first-half starter, after replacing Riad Mahrez early in the second half. While Núñez was explosive, determined and clinical, Álvarez showed the ability to hold the ball, lay it down and take advantage of tight spaces before displaying a striker’s awareness by scoring from close behind the keeper. Adrian had walked away Phil Foden70 minute shot.
Haaland will undoubtedly score goals for City. His record so far with Dortmund, FC Salzburg and Molde has been so consistently good that it would be foolish to suggest he will do anything but continue his scoring rate at the Etihad. But this was a day when they faced one of the strongest teams in Europe, with defenders joel matip Y Virgil van Dijk one of the best partnerships anywhere in the game, so it was a tough baptism for Haaland. Matip and Van Dijk, and every other redshirt that came his way, denied him the space to run towards defenders that he often enjoyed in the Bundesliga. And when he can’t run into the final third with the goal in front of him, Haaland isn’t the same threat.
Nunez seemed much sharper and much more capable of receiving the ball with his back to goal and moving defenders around, but clearly Haaland and City are still learning how to work together. Mahrez failed to spot a clever run from Haaland in the first half, when the striker had come off his marker, while kevin de bruyne he waved his arms in frustration at his new teammate when he strayed out of the game and wasn’t available for a pass in the second half.
And while Nunez was prepared to run straight into the 18-yard box, Haaland stayed within the tight confines of the midfield and that made him easier to stifle and perhaps explains why he managed only 14 touches in 90 minutes. With this evidence, certainly only 90 minutes, Haaland will offer less to City when he doesn’t have the ball than Nunez will give Liverpool. Nunez just seems like a more complete player, but that doesn’t mean he will score more goals and Guardiola insisted Haaland will deliver in the coming months.
“He didn’t score,” Guardiola said. “Another day he will score. He has an incredible quality to it and he will do it.
“He fought a lot, he made the moves. It’s good for him to see the reality of the new country, the new league, but he was there. He’s going to help us a lot, he had the opportunities, he was there.”
Haaland is likely to blow away less-than-successful opponents if given the space to hurt them, but ultimately he has been brought in to make the difference in close matches, against Liverpool and in the Champions League. League, so he has yet to prove that he can take that vital step. It’s hard to imagine Haaland not being able to take his game to that level, but he and City have work to do to make it work.
Liverpool seem to have less to do for Nunez to fill the void created by sadio maneThe summer signing of Bayern Munich. Its header, Mohammed SalahThe center of ‘s in the 80th minute, led to the Ruben Days a hand that, after the VAR review, resulted in a penalty with which Salah made it 2-1 against Liverpool. And Núñez scored his goal with a diving header, four minutes into stoppage time, after andy robertson he had hit it in the six-yard box.
“We all know they are a special species, strikers,” Klopp said. “Everyone needs goals and goal commitments.” [Nunez] He would have been fine without his goal because he created the penalty with his header and had a chance when the goalkeeper reacted brilliantly. “His goal from him was the icing on the cake, brilliant for him and it’s a very good sign after how long he’s been with us.”
So, in the battle of new signings, Nunez won his first meeting with Haaland and helped Liverpool to their first Community Shield success since 2006. But this is a game that means little in the long run. Nunez and Haaland’s performance in the Premier League and Champions League is what will really define the success of their big moves.