‘Oh my word’ – Glenn Hoddle in awe at ‘phenomenal’ Man City star vs Monaco
Manchester City dropped points late on in the Champions League as they drew against Monaco on Wednesday.
Man City beat Napoli 2-0 in their opening Champions League fixture, and added to that points tally with a draw away in the principality.
City were boosted by Rodri and Rayan Cherki’s returns to training in the week, with the two players providing Pep Guardiola with a great boost after his side’s early-season injury crisis.
Guardiola sang Bernardo Silva’s praises in the build-up to the match that returned the Portuguese midfielder back to the club he once called home in Monaco.
Glenn Hoddle wowed by ‘phenomenal’ Erling Haaland
Man City took a 2-1 lead into halftime at the Stade Louis II thanks to a first-half brace from star striker Erling Haaland.
Speaking on TNT Sports’ coverage of Man City’s win, Glenn Hoddle waxed lyrical about the Norwegian forward.
| Erling Haaland vs Monaco | |
| Touches | 17 |
| Shots | 4 |
| Goals | 2 |
| Big chances misses | 1 |
| xG | 0.64 |
Hoddle spoke after Haaland’s second goal, saying: “This guy is phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal, it’s a floated ball by O’Reilly, there’s no power really on the ball, but look how powerful the header is.
“He shrugs off Salisu, and it’s some fabulous movement. He doesn’t try and hit it too hard, he just guides it into the bottom corner, oh my word.
“It’s a good job he doesn’t have 30, 40 touches a game or otherwise he’d score them, that is incredible finishing, two goals tucked under his belt, what a striker.”
Glenn Hoddle shares more Erling Haaland superlatives
Haaland bookmarked the first half with two goals at either end of the 45 minutes, and Hoddle didn’t hold back his admiration for the Norwegians first goal either.
Hoddle said: “This is amazing, I think that’s his first touch of the game and it’s in the back of the net. As we said, he doesn’t need to be involved in the build-up.
“He makes the run, and it’s the perfect ball played from [Josko] Gvardiol, and it’s just the faintest of touches.
“I’m not sure if he has had a touch in this game, the stats will tell us, but at the end of the day, what an impact,” Hoddle finished.
Unfortunately, Haaland’s heroics were in vain as a late Eric Dier penalty cost them all three points against the French giants.