Erling Haaland pushes Seamus Coleman away
Seamus Coleman distracts Erling Haaland
Erling Haaland had the perfect chance to give Manchester City the lead against Everton when his side were awarded a penalty shortly into the second half in their Boxing Day clash, which finished 1-1.
The Norwegian missed, though, after an impressively coordinated attempt to put him off by Seamus Coleman and Jordan Pickford. Here is how they did it:
50min 13sec: Foul committed by Mykolenko on Savinho
The second half is five minutes old when Everton full-back Vitalii Mykolenko unwisely swings at the ball, missing and connecting with Savinho
50min 16sec: Penalty awarded
After giving himself a short time to think, referee Simon Hooper points to the spot.
50sec 25min: Coleman protests
Coleman goes to Hooper to argue the case, presumably suggesting Savinho was slipping before contact was made. Hooper is not interested.
51min 02sec: Mind games begin
There is a pause while VAR checks the decision, but Coleman has already started on the mind games. Haaland has the ball in his hand and Coleman is following the striker to the edge of the area, putting his hand in front of his mouth so television cameras cannot pick up his exact words.
Coleman covers his hand as he speaks to Haaland
Coleman covers his hand as he speaks to Haaland
51min 08sec: Hooper gets involved
Hooper decides to intervene as Haaland walks towards the spot, putting himself between Coleman and the Norwegian and making it clear to the Everton captain that his behaviour must stop.
51min 11sec: Akanji’s spot protection comes into play
While Haaland has been pacing around the area his City team-mate Manuel Akanji has been standing over the penalty spot, presumably to stop it being scuffed by Everton players. With Ilman Ndiaye also getting involved that means there are now four people (including Coleman and Hooper) in Haaland’s way.
51min 21sec: Pickford checks his water bottle
With Hooper clearing the penalty area goalkeeper Pickford decides to go for a wander, and also checks his water bottle – one that photos show has the detail written on it of where each potential City penalty taker is likely to shoot.
Pickford's water bottle
Jordan Pickford’s water bottle had tips for where City’s penalty takers would shoot
51min 24sec: Coleman has one more go at putting Haaland off
With the penalty area almost cleared Coleman decides to have one more go at Haaland, walking up to the striker and saying something to him. Haaland shoves him away, and Hooper books the Everton captain.
Seamus Coleman's mind games against Erling Haaland before Haaland saw his penalty saved 🧠👀#PLonPrime #MCIEVE pic.twitter.com/VuemRXhQbm
— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) December 26, 2024
51min 32sec: Pickford argues the point
With Coleman having retreated Pickford decides to argue the booking, walking eight or nine yards from his goal to speak to Hooper.
52min 05sec: Pickford pulls his faces
With the penalty area now clear, it’s over to Pickford. We have seen the England goalkeeper excel in these situations before - notably in the Euros quarter-final shoot-out win against Switzerland - and he pulls out on of those tricks here, making a series of faces to put Haaland off his stride, all while jumping on his line.
Jordan Pickford trying to put Erling Haaland off before his penalty...
...then his wink after saving it 😭#PLonPrime #MCIEVE pic.twitter.com/vVcb8KtxV3
— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) December 26, 2024
52min 15sec: Haaland misses...
Two minutes and two seconds after the penalty was awarded, Haaland takes the kick. It is struck low to Pickford’s right but the goalkeeper easily reaches it, pushing it away.
52min 17sec:...and is offside when scoring the rebound
Josko Gvardiol gets to the rebound first and heads it back across goal where Haaland nods home. The Norwegian knows he is well offside, though, and does not even begin to celebrate as the ball hits the back of the net.
Erling Haaland 🆚 Jordan Pickford
Jordan Pickford WINS as Haaland misses from the spot#PLonPrime #MCIEVE pic.twitter.com/dbXtXdWsqS
— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) December 26, 2024
52min 21sec: Everton’s mindgames have won
With the offside duly awarded, Everton celebrate a perfectly-executed plan designed to put Haaland off and keep their side in the game.
52min 33sec: Pickford’s wink
And in case there were any doubts over who had won, Pickford does an extravagant wink as he saunters forward taking the acclaim of his team-mates.
Jordan Pickford... 😂#PLonPrime #MCIEVE pic.twitter.com/QKb5kKoCnC
— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) December 26, 2024