Erling Haaland claimed one of Italy's players kept grabbing his bum during Sunday night's clash with the pair coming to blows before Norway secured a dominant victory
Erling Haaland had to be held back from confronting Gianluca Mancini
Erling Haaland had to be held back from confronting Gianluca Mancini
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Erling Haaland claims that Italy's Gianluca Mancini kept grabbing his backside during Norway's win over the Azzurri - but it ultimately fired up the Manchester City ace as Norway secured their place at the World Cup in emphatic fashion.
Haaland scored two of Norway's four as they completed a perfect qualifying campaign, winning all eight of the games, but the game didn't pass without incident which led to Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, Haaland's Manchester City colleague, having to hold him back.
Mancini was clearly looking to get under Haaland's skin and kept grabbing the striker below the waist, which frustrated the Norwegian. He eventually confronted his opponent with words exchanged between the pair as Haaland opened up on the incident.
Haaland told TV2: "At 1-1 he started to touch my ass, and I thought 'what are you doing?' Then I got a little fired up and said to him, 'Thank you so much for the motivation, let's f****** have it'."
The City marksman would eventually score twice in two minutes to put the game beyond Italy. It was tied at 1-1 with 15 minutes left before Haaland kept up his stellar goalscoring run.
His first was a powerful strike into the roof of the net after another City team-mate in Oscar Bobb has set him free. His second, less than a minute later, was a close range finish. Wolves ace Jorgen Strand Larsen completed the demolition job at the San Siro with a fourth goal in the 93rd-minute.
Haaland said: "It's probably the sickest result. The fact that we come here and win 4-1 is absolutely sick, and it shows that we are a bit unpredictable. It's pretty good for everyone to know."
Erling Haaland had the last laugh with two goals as Norway hammered Italy
Erling Haaland had the last laugh with two goals as Norway hammered Italy
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Norway will head to a first World Cup since 1998 - before Haaland was even born. He's been crucial in them achieving their ambitions with the striker coming up with 16 goals in the qualifying stage - equalling the record set by Poland's Robert Lewandowski in the process. Haaland has now scored in 11 straight World Cup qualifiers dating back to 2021
The Norwegians headed to Italy knowing only a highly improbable nine-goal swing could deny them the automatic qualification place and completed their Italian job with minimal fuss.
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