Erling Haaland produced a contender for miss of the season during Sunday’s Manchester derby, as the Manchester City striker astonishingly fired the ball over the bar from just a couple of yards out when scoring seemed inevitable.
Rodri sent a ball to the back post for Phil Foden, who subsequently nodded it towards an unmarked Haaland. Despite being free, the Norwegian chose to use his feet instead of his head and ended up sending it over the bar.
Gary Neville commented on Sky Sports, saying: “What has he just done? Did he try to put it into the top of the net? Did he try to be too clever?”
Meanwhile former England international Gary Lineker commented on social media: “That might be the worst miss I’ve ever seen at this level. Erling Haaland has to head it. Incredible.”
Even Pep Guardiola, the manager, had his hands on his head in disbelief, unable to comprehend what had just occurred.
Had he converted the opportunity, it would have leveled the score at 1-1 following Marcus Rashford’s stunning 25-yard strike. Haaland isn’t accustomed to missing chances like that, as demonstrated earlier in the week when he scored five goals against Luton in the FA Cup. With 27 goals in all competitions for City, he still has another 45 minutes to potentially increase that tally.
Luckily for the Norwegian superstar, Phil Foden has stepped up for the Citizens in the second half and produced two special goals to put the home team in front in the Manchester derby.