Maybe Erling Haaland's father should change the lasagna recipe.
When the burly Norwegian ran the English ball right off a brace into his own Premier League his debut, he put his prolific form on the pasta dishes his father cooked before every game day. Following a run of three hat-tricks in as many consecutive Premier League appearances at the Etihad Stadium, Haaland said: “This is turning out pretty well every game.”
The days of those indomitable triplets seem to belong to a bygone era. Haaland failed to score on his fourth consecutive outing, seeing his penalty saved as City limped along. 1-1 draw with Everton in the first leg on Boxing Day.
Haaland's foul was the 11th 'big chance' he has failed to convert in the last three months – more than any other Premier League player over the same period, for WhoScored.
Since Manchester City's 2-2 draw with Arsenal, Erling Haaland has missed more clear-cut goalscoring opportunities (11) than any other player in the Premier League. 🫠
Stay humble, huh? pic.twitter.com/oWmpeBNN9Z
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) December 26, 2024
Haaland is no stranger to missed opportunities. townThe 's number nine topped the division's 'big chances missed' charts in each of the previous two seasons. After making a particularly glorious opener in the first Manchester derby of 2024, Haaland said: “People say I'm good at scoring goals, but I missed the biggest chance in the world ever.”
For every mistake, though, there was a flurry of hits. This has not been the case recently.
During this particularly wasteful run of form – which has seen City win just four of their last 13 Premier League games – Haaland has scored three poor goals. 27 different players have surpassed the most feared striker in the worldincluding Manchester City left-back Josko Guardiol. Even the exiled Marcus Rashford can match Haaland's three league goals in the last three months.
Haaland blamed himself after the weekend defeat to Aston Villa. Pep Guardiola defended his striker wrong but highlighted his side's lack of a clinical edge once again on Thursday afternoon. “The performance against that team was really good in attack and defence,” declared the increasingly worried City coach. “We shot a lot inside the 18-meter area, but unfortunately we couldn't get the result we wanted.”
Manuel Akanji was not so optimistic and ruled City out of the title race. “The season isn't over, but it's not a target for us at the moment,” sighed the Swiss centre-back. For Haaland, the objective is simply to get back on the scoresheet.