Erling Haaland missed a penalty against Everton - ultimately costing Manchester City two points - leading to howls of laughter from Arsenal fans and howls of anger from Fantasy Premier League managers
14:25, 26 Dec 2024Updated 14:25, 26 Dec 2024
Erling Haaland missed a penalty against Everton as the Manchester City forward's woes continued
Erling Haaland missed a penalty against Everton as the Manchester City forward's woes continued(Image: Amazon Prime)
Erling Haaland's woeful run in front of goal continued for Manchester City as he missed a penalty against Everton.
The misfiring goal machine saw his second half spot kick saved by Jordan Pickford with the scores tied 1-1 at the Etihad, following first half strikes for Bernardo Silva for the home side and Iliman Ndiaye for the visitors in the Premier League clash. And his blunder proved costly for Pep Guardiola's struggling side as the game ended in a draw.
Haaland, who had not scored for Guardiola's faltering champions in the last three games, was presented with the perfect chance to end that barren spell when Everton defender Vitalii Mykolenko swung a leg at City winger Savinho and brought him down in the box.
Yet when Haaland stepped up the Norwegian's tame strike was saved by the England goalkeeper, who guessed the right way and kept the ball out, only for the forward to then head in from close range when the rebound was sent his way again, only to find himself offside.
That led to howls of laughter and derision from Arsenal fans online, with the phrase "stay humble" trending on X. Haaland has seen his form fall off a cliff since he clashed with Mikel Arteta in September.
Jordan Pickford saves a penalty from Erling Haaland
Jordan Pickford saves a penalty from Erling Haaland
The 24-year-old striker told the Arsenal boss to "stay humble" following City's late equaliser in a 2-2 draw. But the goals have dried up since and Gunners supporters enjoyed reminding him of that moment in the wake of his missed penalty.
One Arsenal fan posted: "LOL Haaland, stay humble." Another said: "humble pie with a Christmas cracker for haaland." A third wrote: "Haaland remember to stay humble please."
A fourth posted: "Haaland begging arteta to forgive him the 'Stay humble' saga." And another fan added: "Haaland is not going to live down this post ‘stay humble’ saga era, even if he picks up demonic form going forward. The mere fact that he entered into such a slump after that statement ? Poetic"
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There were also howls of anger and anguish from Fantasy Premier League managers, who have used a huge chunk of their budget to have him in their side. He currently costs a whopping £14.8m in the game.
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One irate FPL manager posted: "Has there ever been a more overpriced asset in FPL?" A second said: "Haaland stinking out FPL for months now but I know as soon as I take him out he will be bagging again." Another wrote: "Haaland *might* need to get dropped in FPL, never thought I’d see the day."
The result left City slumped in sixth in the Premier League, having played a game more than the sides around them in the table.