'A lot of pain' - Why Man City took Erling Haaland off in Arsenal draw

• Sport
• Football
• Pep Guardiola

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola spoke about the decision to take Erling Haaland off in the 1-1 draw with Arsenal

Pep Guardiola said that Erling Haaland was taken off in Manchester City's draw with Arsenal because he was suffering from back pain that has caused him issues this week.

Haaland looked electric at the start of the game as he raced half the length of the pitch to score the opening goal after a one-two with Tijjani Reijnders. He then continued to be an outlet up front in a defensive performance from the Blues and missed a second-half chance to double their advantage.

Guardiola took Haaland off with 15 minutes of normal time remaining, replacing him with midfielder Nico Gonzalez in what looked like another defensive substitution. Phil Foden had been replaced by Nathan Ake shortly before that.

City were winning at the time and looked to have secured a battling three points, only for them to switch off in injury time as Eberechi Eze lofted a ball over the top for Gabriel Martinelli to equalise. That goal put more scrutiny on Guardiola's substitutions, but he explained afterwards that taking Haaland off was to ease the pain that he had been feeling.

"The first three of four balls he could win the duels and win all the duels with Gabriel and Saliba. Sorry, it's not easy," said the City boss.

"At the end he was exhausted, a lot of pain in his back. He was suffering the last few days. It's so demanding and he will take a break a little bit to the last games."

City go to Huddersfield in the league cup on Wednesday, which looks like a perfect opportunity to rotate the team and rest Haaland. They then take on Burnley in the league on Saturday ahead of trips to Monaco and Brentford before the next international break.

---

Here at the Manchester Evening News, we’re dedicated to bringing you the best Manchester City coverage and analysis.

Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest City news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe.

You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here to be sent all the day’s biggest stories.

And finally, if you’d rather listen to our expert analysis then make sure to check out our Talking City podcast. Our shows are available on all podcast platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and you can also watch along on YouTube.