The duo of Erling Braut Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne have both struggled with injuries this season. Before the game against Luton on Tuesday, they had only been on the field together for 322 minutes. Against Luton, they showed why the experts and City manager Pep Guardiola praise the absolutely incredible connection between the two. In the 77 minutes they were together on the field against Luton, there were a total of five goals for Haaland. On four of them, De Bruyne hit the goal-scoring pass. – Look at what he’s doing! He does what he does best. It is a pleasure to play with him, Haaland told ITV after the game on Tuesday. – I think we know what we both want from each other. We often look at each other during the match and it clicks well. He is a smart guy and I like playing with smart guys, Haaland continued. Guardiola: They need each other In the ITV studio, former Manchester United captain Roy Keane said that Haaland “is a machine”. In the same studio broadcast, former Arsenal hero Ian Wright boasted of the duo of Haaland and De Bruyne. – If they click, then they don’t need much time. De Bruyne doesn’t need much time and space to hit these passes, Wright said. At the press conference after the match, Pep Guardiola was naturally also asked about the collaboration between the two City stars. – I think Erling needs a guy with that overview, quality and generosity. Kevin is less selfish in front of goals, and if he could help him score one more goal, he would do it, said Guardiola, and added: – Kevin needs Erling’s movements. They are very aggressive. RADAR PAIRS: Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Braut Haaland wreaked havoc against Luton. Photo: AFP Behind 20 percent of Haaland’s goals The Belgian and the Jærbow have shown over a long time that they have a special chemistry when they are out on the pitch. Descriptive enough: When Haaland published a picture on his Instagram account in 2022 of him eating out at a restaurant, De Bruyne immediately appeared in the comments section: “Do you want me to keep the menu and assist you?”, joked the midfielder. The comment attracted attention and garnered many tens of thousands of “like clicks” in a short time. Photo: Skjermdump / Instagram The chemistry both on and off the pitch has only continued to be sensationally good. Although they have only been on the pitch together for 399 minutes this season, De Bruyne is already the individual player who has assisted Haaland the most times this season with five goal-scoring passes. Behind, both Julián Alvárez and Bernardo Silva have three goal-scoring passes for Haaland in the 2023/24 season. Also last season, De Bruyne had the most goalscoring passes to Haaland with a total of eleven, six more than the City player with the second most. In total, De Bruyne has thus assisted 16 of his 79 goals for Manchester City, which corresponds to 20.3 percent of the Norwegian’s goals. Most goal-scoring passes to Haaland in Manchester City Kevin De Bruyne – 16 goal-scoring Phil Foden – six goal-scoring Jack Grealish – five goal-scoring Julián Álvarez and Bernardo Silva – four goal-scoring 23 of Haaland’s 79 goals have come without another City player behind the goal-scorer the pass. – De Bruyne is on a different level than most others. So when he gets hold of the ball, your attitude as a forward is: Move. Get free, because you know he will find you, said former top scorer Alan Shearer after City’s win against Everton earlier in February. There, De Bruyne scored his first Haaland goal-scoring pass of the season. After the game on Tuesday, Haaland also came with a small scare shot to the competitors, in what appears to be a raucous battle for the Premier League title. With twelve games remaining, City are in second place, one point behind Liverpool and one point ahead of Arsenal. – My form is getting better. I finally feel good. It’s a wonderful feeling. We are on our way. There will be exciting times ahead, Haaland told ITV. Who makes up football’s best duo since the 90s? Haaland-De Bruyne Yorke-Cole Messi-Suárez Shearer-Sutton Henry-Bergkamp Romario-Bebeto Kane-Son Salah-Mane Rooney-Ronaldo Del Piero-Trezeguet Romario-Stoichkov Raul-Morientes Some others Show result Meiner De Bruyne has a different overview NRKs football expert and Viking player Kristoffer Løkberg believes there is a reason why the duo has become one of the most effective radar pairs in football in recent seasons. Løkberg highlights a quote he has noticed from the Belgian: In his best matches, he fails almost more than he succeeds, De Bruyne has stated. – I would think he tries to find Haaland more often than the other City players. He also has a higher risk than most others in his passing game, which contributes to big gains when he succeeds, says Løkberg. – To a greater extent than many of the others in the City attack, De Bruyne has an overview of the far area and not just the near area. In addition, he prioritizes using this more often than many others. This is often when Haaland’s room is a bit bigger too, which he then again profits from, he adds. IMPRESSED: Kristoffer Løkberg believes Haaland and De Bruyne have become a striker pair to be reckoned with. Photo: Nicolai Eid Trondal Løkberg believes that De Bruyne-Haaland are roughly like a striker pair to be reckoned with in modern football. – There aren’t that many teams now that play with two pure strikers who combine with each other, as we were perhaps spoiled for in the past. I grew up pretending I was Andy Cole-Dwight Yorke on the loop if we played “two-man cup”, that kind of radar pair is almost gone. Now it is often a winger, or the offensive midfielder and the striker, who find a link between themselves, says Løkberg. Or as Guardiola summed it up himself after the aforementioned match against Everton earlier in February: – They have skills in the final third to create something that you cannot find in the statistics, in the books, in genius managers… It comes from them, he said Guardiola. Who is news’s new expert? 00:45 No one had managed this for over 80 years 01:05 Here they try a unique jump 01:08 Hides the chocolate when he is filmed 00:44 Show more
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The Haaland joke to the City star caused a stir – think this detail makes them unique – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcast schedule
