Norwegian striker Erling Haaland found himself under scrutiny following two astonishing misses that proved costly for Manchester City in their 0-1 loss to Aston Villa in the 15th round of the Premier League on the morning of December 7.

 

In the 11th minute, Haaland had back-to-back opportunities to score in the restricted area, courtesy of Phil Foden’s through ball and Bernardo Silva’s hanging delivery. However, the Norwegian striker consistently placed his shots right into the path of goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.

 

Haaland’s two missed chances represented rare opportunities for Man City against Aston Villa. For the remaining 80 minutes of the match, the Premier League champions failed to produce any noteworthy attacks, ultimately suffering their first defeat against Aston Villa in over a decade.

 

“Haaland deserves to be Man City’s sinner in this match,” criticized one fan. “At important moments, Haaland is often invisible,” remarked a second person. Echoing similar sentiments, another fan commented, “In terms of the ability to create breakthrough moments, Haaland is far behind Kylian Mbappe.”

 

Throughout the 90-minute match against Aston Villa, Haaland touched the ball only 17 times, while the touches of goalkeepers Ederson and Martinez numbered 48 and 44, respectively. The striker born in 2000 also received the second-lowest score on the field (6.2 points), just ahead of teammate Julian Alvarez (6.1 points).