Man City boss Guardiola defends Haaland after disaster stats | OneFootball

Manchester City ace Erling Haaland managed to avoid an unwelcome Premier League record during victory over Bournemouth.

The Premier League champions made it two wins from two after last weekend's opening day win at West Ham, with goals from Ilkay Gundogan, Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden and Jefferson Lerma own goal.

Yet Haaland only touched the ball eight times during the match against Bournemouth - just once more than Romelu Lukaku's record low of seven touches in a Premier League game for Chelsea against Crystal Palace last season. Haaland completed just two passes in the entire game - the lowest total for a City player under Guardiola.

"The most difficult job in the world is when you are a striker against a (defence) with three central midfielders, three centre-backs and you are in the middle," Guardiola said following the victory.

"We will find many of these situations but it's a question of time. With the quality of player we have behind him (Haaland), we will find him."