Erling Haaland was livid with Manchester City for failing to see off Monaco as Pep Guardiola’s side had to make do with a 2-2 draw in the second game of their Champions League campaign.
Haaland had twice given City the lead in Monaco but a wonder strike from Jordan Teze and a late penalty from former Tottenham ace Eric Dier snatched a point for the hosts.
City’s Norwegian goal machine continued where he had left off on the weekend with his two goals against Burnley, netting twice in the first half in Monaco to score his 51st and 52nd goals in the Champions League.
Haaland prodded home a delicious pass from Josko Gvardiol to score with his first touch of the game and move past Thierry Henry as the 11th top scorer in the competition’s history.
Before the end of the first half he had drawn level with Mohamed Salah in 10th.
Haaland’s brilliant brace was not enough for City to take all three points, however.
Haaland curses City’s lack of killer instinct
The striker could not hide his frustration at City’s failure to win a match they had dominated for large parts and he claimed they took their foot off the pedal in the second half, giving Monaco an invitation back into the match.
“Of course, I don’t feel good,” he told TNT Sports.
“We didn’t win. We did something unnecessarily in the second half, and I don’t think played good enough, so we didn’t deserve to win.
“Also, we needed more energy.
“We needed to get at them more.
“As we did in the first hour, we dominated much more, and now in the second half, they took the lead much more, and I don’t think it’s good enough.”
Haaland berates Gonzalez for penalty giveaway
City players and staff were incensed at the decision to award a late penalty to Monaco for Nico Gonzalez’s high foot on Dier.
Two members of the coaching staff were shown red cards and a furious Monaco staff member could be heard saying “Show respect” to the visiting bench.
Haaland, however, had no complaints with the decision.
The striker said: “I didn’t see it again, but I don’t know… if you kick someone in the face, I guess that’s a penalty.”
Read more: Haaland Reveals Crippling Fear As He Deals With Grief
City collapse brings back bad memories from last season
Guardiola’s side’s failure to see out the game was reminiscent of their struggles in last season’s Champions League.
City blew a three-goal lead to draw at home to Feyenoord while they lost 4-1 at Sporting CP after scoring first and also surrendered a two-goal advantage to lose 4-2 at Paris Saint-Germain.
The capitulations meant that City had to win their final League Phase game to scramble a spot in the knockout play-offs, where they were destroyed 6-3 on aggregate by Real Madrid.
City are eighth in the League Phase table on four points, with only six teams winning their first two matches.
Guardiola’s side will hope to learn from their mistakes against Monaco when they visit Villarreal in their next Champions League outing on October 21.
First of all though City return to the Premier League and their bid to chase down early leaders Liverpool.
Guardiola’s side cut the gap to Arne Slot’s side to five points after thumping Burnley and will be looking to build on their improving domestic form when they visit Brentford, who are fresh from conquering Manchester United, on Sunday.
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