Haaland produces the most Haaland performance as Brazil, Gabriel next for inevitable Man City star | OneFootball

Erling Haaland is the star player of this Norwegian side, and their performance in the World Cup Round of 32 tie against the Ivory Coast had the hallmarks of a typical showing from him for Manchester City with fleeting moments of explosiveness.

There is little point getting too bogged down in Haaland having limited touches in a match (he only had one touch before the first hydration break) because you know he will come to life and generally make a huge impact at some stage, and the striker’s limited influence was an indication of where Norway were at during the opening half an hour.

Norway’s incredibly flat opening made even their most buoyant supporters chant a little less enthusiastically, while Ivory Coast seemed far more energetic and were the superior side as they overpowered their opponents.

Yan Diomande and Nicolas Pepe, in particular, were a thorn in Norway’s side as they looked likely to spark a goal each time they had the ball in a dangerous position, but the European nation pretty fortuitously came out unscathed and took the lead themselves with the half-time interval approaching.

After producing nothing of note in the attacking half for the first third of the match, Norway gradually made strides up the pitch and created a couple of half chances for Haaland to build momentum before Antonio Nusa produced a moment of individual brilliance to break the deadlock.

The RB Leipzig star dribbled towards the goal and netted with a sublime curled finish into the far corner, and this opener left the Ivory Coast on the ropes as they were fortunate not to concede a second within the next couple of minutes.

Norway, in an attacking burst not too dissimilar to ones produced by Manchester City, smelled blood only for Haaland and Alexander Sorloth to spurn opportunities.

After Amad Diallo was sacrificed for an extra midfielder from the start, Ivory Coast boss Emerse Fae swiftly reverted to a more front-foot XI after the restart by introducing the Manchester United winger and this paid dividends at each end of the field.

With the mood Ivory Coast’s wingers were in, and because Norway conceded seven goals in three wide open group games, it was hard to have confidence in the leaders retaining their advantage.

Still, for a while, Norway were showing that they have another string to their bow as they soaked up pressure and had the better chances of the two sides from the break.

But Norway could not legislate for Diallo producing a Lionel Messi-esque dribbling run with superb close control and a tidy finish to boot to restore parity in the tie.

Diallo had an almost as important intervention a few minutes earlier as he blocked a near-certain goal on the line, with the equaliser for the Ivory Coast the least that they deserved.

This was the latest in a string of entertaining round of 16 ties, with each of the knockout matches before Ivory Coast vs Norway settled by a late winner or penalty shootout.

This record continued at the Dallas Stadium, and it was only ever going to be one man who struck at the most decisive moment.

Erling Haaland strikes… again

And in a game in which he had the fewest touches (27) of Norway’s starters and otherwise only had a couple of difficult-to-convert chances, Haaland still obviously managed to find the net with his first proper chance.

After Oscar Bobb and Patrick Berg combined brilliantly down the right flank, the ball was precisely pulled back to Haaland to convert from a few yards out. The right place at the right time, as they say.

Haaland himself will admit that it was far from his most convincing of finishes, with his latest goals resembling a loose touch rather than a calm tap-in.

Regardless, the Man City superstar remains inevitable, and his latest performance was trademark Haaland as he scored his fifth goal at this summer’s World Cup.

Without Haaland, Norway were staring down the barrel at a penalty shootout (at best) against the Ivory Coast, but they have instead booked their place in the World Cup Round of 16 in normal time.

They also did so without playing near to their best and will likely step up their levels in the next round against Brazil, which will also pit Haaland against arch-nemesis Gabriel Magalhaes.

That will inevitably be great fun, and Brazil certainly won’t be relishing the prospect of coming up against the inevitable force of Haaland.