Sri Lanka manager Andy Morrison has suggested that one Manchester City player in particular was flawless in his side’s 2-0 win against Nottingham Forest.
Such claims can generally be made about City’s players but against Forest, a majority of them were far from their brilliant best.
The visitors’ mistakes, both on and off the ball against is what let the hosts back into the game.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side do deserve a lot of credit for arguably being the toughest team Manchester City have faced in the Premier League this season, alongside Aston Villa and Liverpool.
One would have expected the Sky Blues to be in cruise control after Josko Gvardiol headed in his side’s first goal of the game.
However, Nottingham Forest did not seem discouraged after having conceded.
While several of the City players seemingly did not learn their lessons.
Andy Morrison suggests one City player was flawless vs Forest
For example, Kyle Walker had a game to forget against Forest.
Defensively, the Englishman struggled against the likes of Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ola Aina.
Walker was either beat for pace or just was not positioned correctly as he was often utilised as an inverted right-back on Sunday.
In possession as well, the City captain played far too many sloppy passes.
However, Manchester City managed to get the job done.
Ultimately, Pep Guardiola will be all smiles because that was the case against Forest.
But Andy Morrison has hinted at the fact that Manchester City striker Erling Haaland was basically perfect against Nottingham Forest.
Morrison initially said on the club’s official post-match show, “[Kevin] De Bruyne’s got on the half turn and then it’s the timing of the pass and then I’m so, so, so pleased because he’s [Erling Haaland] had a couple of games rest and that physically and emotionally and mentally to recharge and it was a big smile on his face.”
The former Manchester City captain added, “And when he scored the goal as well, everything he did in the rest of the game was meticulous. If you look at his stats when he had the ball, he never gave the ball away once in the game.”
“He kept it, he moved it, he passed, he caused them a problem, he pushed them back and we saw the game out and that’ll be massive for the next four games.”
Much like Andy Morrison, Alan Shearer also urged the masses not to doubt Erling Haaland as Manchester City did the league double over Nottingham Forest.
Erling Haaland brought a sense of calmness upon his introduction
In our view, Andy Morrison is spot on about how Erling Haaland was phenomenal in every sense for Manchester City against Nottingham Forest.
Often, midfielders who are technically gifted are known to calm things down for their team.
But despite being a number nine, the £51 million brought a sense of calmness upon his introduction from the bench, as his approach was assured from the minute he was brought on.
City seemed much more in sync as Halaand brought his teammates into play, dropping deep and laying the ball to the likes of De Bruyne and Alvarez.
Speaking of Kevin De Bruyne, he started looking better upon the Norwegian’s arrival and the same can be said for Julian Alvarez.
Perhaps just knowing how decisive the 23-year-old can be coupled with his familiarity with his teammates is what elevated City’s performance after he came on as a substitute.