"Even when you mark him, he still scores" - PL forward hails Manchester City superstar Erling Haaland
Bournemouth forward Antoine Semenyo has hailed Manchester City talisman Erling Haaland as the striker he would like to emulate in the Premier League. The Norwegian bagged his second consecutive Golden Boot in the league last season after scoring 27 goals in 31 games.
The 24-year-old has been a phenomenon ever since his arrival on English shores from Borussia Dortmund in 2022. Scoring 36 goals in his debut season, Haaland broke the record for the most goals scored in a single season in England. He also managed seven hat-tricks in his first season with Manchester City, five of which came in the Premier League.
Incidentally, he became the first player in history to score hat-tricks in three consecutive home games, also becoming the quickest player to score three hat-tricks. He also became the quickest player to score 50 goals in England, a record which was earlier held by Andy Cole.
The former Borussia Dortmund forward won the treble of the Premier League, FA Cup, and the UEFA Champions League in his debut season. He was also awarded the UEFA Men's Player of the Year award. He played an instrumental role in helping City defend their Premier League crown last season despite being out of action for nearly two months due to injury.
Semenyo, who scored eight goals across 36 appearances for Bournemouth in all competitions last season, recently heaped praise on Erling Haaland. He said that the Norwegian can't be contained even if he's tightly marked by defenders.
Here's what he said (via Earn Your Stripes):
"That man (Haaland) is tall...strong, fast, he can finish. He's got everything you need as a striker. The aura he has...if he's on the pitch and if you don't mark him...he's gonna score. Everyone's trying to mark him and even if you mark him, he still scores. I remember watching him...this is the kind of striker I want to be."
The Norwegian also joined Harry Kane on the list of players who have scored goals against every Premier League club they have faced. He achieved the feat after scoring against Brentford in February 2024.
Manchester City became the first team to win four consecutive Premier League titles
Manchester City's success domestically is the kind that authors pen novels about. The club has seen a tectonic shift ever since Pep Guardiola took charge at the helm of the club in 2016.
The blue side of Manchester won the Premier League last season, becoming the first team to win four consecutive titles. Furthermore, they've now won six league titles in the last seven years. Liverpool is the only team to have broken their perfect record after they won their first title in 2019-20 after a gap of 30 years.
Arsenal, like Liverpool, came pretty close to toppling Manchester City in the last two seasons. Despite winning more games (28) last season than the 'Invincibles' squad of 2003-04, the Gunners failed to win their first Premier League title in over a decade.