City striker Erling Haaland can hardly believe it himself. © APA/afp / PAUL ELLIS

Haaland with an unbelievable miss

Exceptional striker Erling Haaland caused a lot of astonishment in the football world with an incredibly missed goal opportunity.

March 04, 2024

From: dpa

“That was probably the worst missed shot I have ever seen at this level,” marveled former world-class attacker Gary Linker X (formerly Twitter).

“I have no explanations for this,” added former United captain Roy Keane. The top scorer shot the ball over the empty goal from just under two meters shortly before half-time in Manchester City's 3-1 win in the derby against Manchester United on Sunday.

Phil Foden turned the game around with two goals after United took the lead. Haaland then scored his 18th goal of the season to make it 3-1 and made coach Pep Guardiola rave. "The great players I've met - and I've been lucky enough to coach some of them - have this ability to forget in an instant," Guardiola explained. “And if he misses five more chances, he can think about it for ten seconds. Then he has to delete it and it continues.”

City close to Reds after derby win

Despite the Haaland oddity, Guardiola's team deservedly won 3-1 against local rivals Manchester United and are in second place in the Premier League, one point behind Liverpool FC, coached by Jürgen Klopp. Both teams meet next Sunday at Anfield Road in Liverpool.