Pep Guardiola did, however, deny Haaland the opportunity to claim another match ball against Bournemouth when replacing him with Omar Marmoush in the 82nd minute. Asked afterwards about why his manager took him off when chasing down a hat-trick, City’s No.9 said: “Of course you need to ask Pep for this. I think there were probably a few fantasy managers that were not so happy when I got subbed off.”
He added on another impressive victory for City: “[It was an] important win. It is good to bounce back after losing a bad away game [at Aston Villa]. It was nice. I tried to contribute for the team by doing my job.
“It is good to win. Now two more important games to come, so keep focusing. I didn't score last game. I try to help the team to win. That is my goal and even by scoring or helping in winning duels it doesn't matter. I want to help the team become better, that is my job.”
City sit second in the Premier League table through 10 fixtures this season - six points adrift of leaders Arsenal. They will be back in action on Wednesday when facing Haaland’s former club Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League, before reaching the next international break with a home date against Liverpool on Sunday.