Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has showered praise on his strikers Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez after both scored to give the club a victory away at Fulham on Sunday in the Premier League.
The win at the London club took City to the top of the table with one point and a game to spare over Arsenal who face Chelsea on Tuesday.
Haaland scored a third-minute penalty to give City the lead. It was his 50th goal of the season in all competitions for the club and his 34th goal in the league. Fulham equalised through Carlos Vinicius in the 15th minute but a wonder strike from 2022 FIFA World Cup winner Julian Alvarez won the tie for them to send them to the top of the league.
Guardiola showered praise on both strikers, who have hit the ground running for City in their first season and have helped the Etihad faithful move on quickly from Sergio Aguero.
Speaking with Manchester City’s official website after the game, the former Barcelona manager referred to both of his strikers “incredible weapons”. “I knew that Churchill was not Prime Minister when the record today Erling broke,” Guardiola reflected. “It’s a long, long time ago. I am really impressed.
“He took the penalty with the mentality he has. Strong.
“Congratulations to Erling. The best goals to help us achieve what we want still is there.
“With Julian, every time he plays he gives us everything. He got the assist for the penalty and after did the extraordinary goal.
“To have two strikers is an incredible weapon that we have. To play almost all of the games to be world champions with Argentina where there are thousands of talented footballers and to be able to play there is because he (Alvarez) has something.
“It is helping me a lot to understand that in the future I can adjust something to make them both and {statorium_player pid=93 sid=165 text=”Kevin (De Bruyne)”} play.
“In tight games that’s really important. It’s not just the goal and the penalty, it’s the pressure and to keep the ball. He knows exactly where the other players are.”
Arsenal could go back on top with two points if they win on Tuesday but the league is officially Manchester City’s to lose. This is because they have a game in hand which will be played this May. Guardiola is hoping that the team can recover well enough to keep their Premier League three-peat charge going.
“My only concern now is how we recover,” Guardiola added. “We play every three days but that happens when you’re in three competitions. “Winning games helps with the recovery to be faster.
“We go back to Manchester and prepare for West Ham.”
