Pep Guardiola has come out to bat for his €60m striker Erling Haaland, after Man City's 3-1 loss to Liverpool in yesterday's Community Shield.
One of the main narratives surrounding the final was the match up between Haaland and Darwin Nunez, and which striker would come out on top for their new club.
Despite coming only off the bench for for Liverpool, it was Nunez who took the spoils, as he won Liverpool's penalty to give them the lead, and guaranteed them the win when he headed in their third score.
Haaland was less fortunate and had very few looks on goal, until he produced a shocking miss in injury time with just a minute left.
Haaland Miss
This is absolutely unbelievable!!
What a horrendous miss from Haaland.
As a Nigerian, i will apologize to Yakubu Aiyegbeni.
Mourinho Raheem Sterling Joe Aribo Lukaku Pulisic Mane Koeman Nathan Ake Guardiola Zaha pic.twitter.com/6Dgmap2Cjr— Callistus Dara (@Daracally) July 30, 2022
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Like Klopp after Darwin Nunez' rough pre-season debut against Man United, Guardiola defended Haaland and was unconcerned with his performance.
"He had chances, two or three in the first half, and one in the end, and always is there. He is strong, another time he will put it in the net. It happened. It is football. He was there. He had another goal disallowed because the ball was over the line.
"He fought a lot and made the movements. It is good for him to see the reality of a new country and new league. He was there but today he didn't score and another day he will score. He has an incredible quality and he will do it.
"He has had just two weeks, two weeks and a half, and I am really comfortable with what we are seeing since we arrived this season. I am not absolutely concerned. The reality is we have two or three months ahead of us. He is going to help us."
Klopp also spoke after the game on the performance of Nunez, praising the Uruguayans impact off the bench.
"I think Darwin would have been fine even without scoring the third one because the penalty was Millie's cross and his header.
"The chance he had before he did really well, but Ederson reacted brilliantly. The goal was obviously the icing on the cake, so really pleased for him.
"You could see in his face, you could see in the face of all his team-mates how happy the boys are for him and that's a really good sign after that short period of time that he is with us."
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