Man City’s Erling Haaland had fun with Newcastle’s players in stoppage-time | OneFootball

Manchester City star Erling Haaland certainly appeared to enjoy his afternoon playing against Newcastle United on Saturday.

While the Premier League’s leading goalscorer didn’t manage to find the net on this particular occasion, he seemed to relish the physical challenge of competing against Eddie Howe’s men.

Haaland clashed with Newcastle’s 6ft 6in centre-back Dan Burn during the second half of the match at the Etihad Stadium.

The Norwegian ran 40 yards to defend his teammate Jack Grealish, who Burn was unhappy with.

An altercation between Haaland and Burn ensued. It ended when the 22-year-old suddenly started laughing. He seemed to find the situation amusing.

City were already 2-0 up by this point thanks to goals from Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva.

Erling Haaland's time-wasting vs Newcastle

And when stoppage-time began, Haaland decided to have some fun with his opponents, showing off his impressive strength and technique to retain possession by the corner flag.

It’s unusual to see these time-wasting tactics from a Pep Guardiola team - but when you have a colossus in your ranks like Haaland, it suddenly becomes a tempting option.

Haaland went on to win two further corners for City, much to the delight of the home crowd.

The smile on the former Borussia Dortmund star’s face said it all.

As the crowd chanted his name, Haaland showed his appreciation.

Video: Haaland toys with Newcastle's players

Watch the clip in full here:

What did Pep Guardiola say about Haaland after the match?

City boss Guardiola was pleased that Haaland appeared to be more interested in winning the game than scoring goals.

He provided the assist for Silva’s second-half goal and celebrated as if he’d just scored himself.

"He made a brilliant assist and he fought a lot," Guardiola was quoted as saying by the Manchester Evening News. "He's a guy after the game in the locker room, he didn't score but we won and he is happy.

"Look at the way he celebrated the goal from Bernardo. Just take a look.

"When that happens, the body language of these kinds of things, you realise this guys is involved. Of course he wants to score goals and he will score more. But what he wants is wins. We won the game and still we are there."

When do Manchester City play next?

Haaland and his City teammates are next in action on Saturday when they travel to Selhurst Park to take on 12th-placed Crystal Palace.