Pep Guardiola insisted Bernardo Silva was right not to play Erling Haaland in as he explained why he berated the striker on the pitch at half-time. City kicked off their 2023/2024 Premier League campaign with a 3-0 win at Turf Moor, with Haaland on hand to score twice before Rodri netted a third. The Norwegian opened his account for the season inside four minutes when the ball arrived at his feet six yards from goal. Despite Burnley pressure, Haaland doubled his side’s lead with a beautiful finish on 36 minutes, leaning back to curl an effort past James Trafford after some good work from Julian Alvarez. It was a typically clinical performance from the City striker, but manager Guardiola was far from happy with him at half-time. Sky cameras captured him marching towards Haaland and berating him for an angry reaction towards Bernardo Silva.
Pep Guardiola said: “He wants all the time, ball to him, ball to him. Man-to-man it’s one-v-one, give him balls in behind and he’ll do it. But when you have two minutes left and Kovacic goes in behind and loses the ball, Rodri loses the ball. Erling wanted the ball and Bernardo was correct not to give him it. It’s easy to do exactly what you have to do, it’s not any problem at all but he scored two goals and I think he’s happy.
Haaland’s second goal in particular was a deadly finish. It was typical of the 23-year-old’s clinical nature since his arrival last summer, and Guardiola claimed the writing is usually on the wall for opposition teams when Haaland gets in that position.
Pep Guardiola said: “The assist from Julian was really good. He set perfectly in the right tempo, right foot and after that you know how good Erling is in that position.”
