Erling Haaland scored the decisive goal as Manchester City made it three wins from three in the Premier League but implied that Arsenal may have the edge in the title race
Erling Haaland opened the scoring in the first half with a thumping header
Erling Haaland scored the winning goal for Man City against Coventry
View 2 Images
Erling Haaland has stressed that Manchester City are in a 'rebuilding phase' despite being expected to fight Arsenal for the title again this season.
City are adapting to life after Pep Guardiola following their former manager's decision to call time on his trophy-laden stint at the club last season. Guardiola presided over a period of domestic dominance, winning five consecutive titles before their remarkable run of title wins was broken by Liverpool, with Arsenal then winning the league last year.
Enzo Maresca is now at the helm, with City bringing in an influx of new signings across the summer transfer window.
Haaland scored the only goal of the game in Saturday's 1-0 win over newly promoted Coventry City and admitted to Viaplay that the former champions are in a very different place to their rivals, who may have the edge in any title race.
"Arsenal have played together for a long time and have built this up over a longer period, a bit like City had when I first joined," the striker said. "We’re still in a kind of rebuilding phase, but the transfer window has been fantastic, I have to say.
"Well done to the club and the people at the club. First and foremost, they’ve brought in fantastic footballers, but also great people who fit in really well. So well done to the whole club."
City have spent big on an overhaul of their midfield this summer after losing the services of club stalwarts Rodri and Bernardo Silva.
They laid out in excess of £100million on respective deals for Elliot Anderson and Enzo Fernandez, the latter of whom joined for a joint-record British transfer fee. Ayyoub Bouaddi has also joined the club from Lille for a fee of £86m.
Martin Odegaard celebrates a goal
Arsenal will attempt to retain their Premier League crown this season
View 2 Images
Arsenal have strengthened by adding Bruno Guimaraes and Ezri Konsa to their squad but failed to add the elite attacker they have been crying out for, fuelling belief that they could be dethroned in the coming months.
City's win over Coventry maintains their 100 per cent start to the new Premier League campaign and Haaland added: "I think we started really well and I think the first half was a really good half, created loads of chances.
"I think I should have scored a few more goals, to be honest but I didn’t, so I need to practice more on that!
"Second half we started really well as well but we managed to get them a little bit into the game which was not ideal but we won, we get three points and we kept a clean sheet which is also important so a good start to the season."
Join our WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.