Sergio Aguero has rubbished suggestions that Manchester City striker Erling Haaland’s goalscoring form has waned, insisting that it’s normal not to score in some games.
Since joining Manchester City in 2022, Haaland has taken the Premier League by storm, shattering multiple goalscoring records. He leads the scoring chart in the league this season, having scored 22 goals in 27 matches.
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However, Haaland endured a goal-scoring drought in the league between December 27, 2025, and February 1, 2026, where he registered only one goal in seven league matches. During that period, there were talks about the Norwegian starting to run out of steam.
Speaking to GOAL, Aguero, Manchester City’s all-time top scorer, reminded critics that Haaland leads the goalscoring chart in the league this season and questioned what they meant by the striker being in a slump.
“Erling has 22 goals in 26 Premier League games this season,” he said. “And that’s just in the Premier League. What slump are they talking about? Besides, it’s normal for him not to score in some games, but that’s to be expected from a striker.”
Haaland failed to find the net in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Newcastle United, but he played a crucial role in the game, setting up Nico O’Reilly for City’s second. To date, Haaland has scored 153 goals in 184 games for City, sitting behind only Aguero (260 goals).
The 25-year-old is also in the race for this season’s European Golden Shoe. He trails only Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane and Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe.
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola heaps praise on Haaland after win over Newcastle
Pep Guardiola lauded Haaland’s impact in their win over Newcastle, claiming that it would have been impossible for them to defeat the Magpies without the striker.
“He was man of the match. Without Erling it would not have been possible,” Guardiola said post-match.
“Against man marking you have to play more direct and if you don’t win that ball, or fight the balls 50/50 then no chance. He did it. Many good things,” Guardiola added on his striker’s performance.
Haaland was selfless during the match. Manchester City’s first goal was engineered via a flick-on that he won deep in midfield. The second came after he made a brilliant run and sent a deft cross for O’Reilly to head home.
Throughout the match, only Rodri (13) won more duels than Haaland (11). The former Dortmund man also contested more aerial balls than any other player and drew fouls while also managing the most touches in the opposition box (seven).
Edited by Ezekiel Olamide