Erling Haaland provided an injury scare to Manchester City and their fans last night, as he exited the 3-0 blowout of Fulham last night at halftime. According to manager Pep Guardiola, however, it’s just a knock. Pep also said that the decision to exit was made by Haaland himself.
“[He had] some problems, he feels uncomfortable, it was 3-0, of course,” Guardiola said in his postmatch press conference yesterday.
FA Cup 4th Round FYIs
Manchester City vs Salford City
Kickoff: Sat. Feb 14, 3pm
Venue: Etihad Stadium, Manchester, UK
Man City Team News
“I didn’t speak with the doctors, I don’t know exactly what he has. Just fatigue or something. He said ‘I don’t feel comfortable’ and with 3-0, with a lot of games, having Omar [Marmoush] — common sense.”
As the next opponent is Salford City, who reside in League Two (fourth tier of the FA pyramid), Haaland wouldn’t feature in this one anyway. Neither will Jeremy Doku and Savinho, but both forward/attacking midfielders could be back in contention to feature next weekend.
They could be back in the squad for the Feb. 21 league fixture against Newcastle.
Other than that, the team news/injury list/fitness situation remains the same.
Lastly, this match on Saturday will be a quasi-Manchester derby of sorts, as Salford are a club that is partially owned by Manchester United legends Gary Neville and David Beckham. So the Class of ’92 members will be among the top storylines here.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, RG.org and Ratings.org. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the Washington Post.