Maresca on Haaland: “Erling Said He Is Fine”

Enzo Maresca said Erling Haaland, who picked up an injury in Manchester City's 3-2 win over Ipswich Town, is not as badly hurt as first feared.

The Norwegian star, who has made a blistering start to the season, took the leading role with two goals on Saturday as City made it seven wins out of seven in the Premier League.

City's number 9 thus became the fastest player to reach 100 non-penalty Premier League goals (in 139 matches). The previous record belonged to Alan Shearer, who reached the mark in 150 matches in 1996. Haaland also found the net for the sixth consecutive league game.

The striker, a key figure in City's strong start to the season, has scored 12 goals in 10 appearances across all competitions. Only Rúben Dias (855 minutes) has played more minutes for the team than Haaland (853 minutes).

However, Haaland was in pain after a challenge with Jack Clarke in the closing stages of the Ipswich win and limped off the pitch at the final whistle.

Easing concerns over the star's condition, Maresca said: “We will see. Erling said he is fine. There is no news for now.”

Maresca became the first manager to win all of his first seven Premier League games in charge of a team. Manchester City, meanwhile, became the third side to open a league campaign with seven wins out of seven, after Liverpool in 2019-20 (first 8 games) and Chelsea in 2005-06 (first 9 games).

Injuries, however, cast a shadow over the victory. As well as Haaland, Nico O'Reilly, Matheus Nunes, Mateo Kovačić and Antoine Semenyo also picked up injuries.

Addressing the setbacks, Maresca said: “Unfortunately, in 10 minutes we had four or five players injured: Matheus, Kova, Erling, Antoine and Nico. But they are inside now and we will assess them. I spoke with all of them. Mateo and Kova said they are fine. Erling also said he is fine. Nico's back problem is still there. The only one we have to wait on is Antoine.”