‘The Guard of honour really hurt me’ – Haaland

Erling Haaland has claimed he was hurt during the guard of honour to celebrate his Premier League record-breaking goal.

The Norwegian was on target again as City beat West Ham 3-0 at the Etihad on Wednesday, and Haaland’s 35 strike – a record-breaking goal in the Premier League era – was celebrated by teammates who mounted a guard of honour.

"It was a nice feeling, like every single goal I score. Winning the game is also really important. The guard of honour really hurt - they hit me hard on the back!" said Haaland, who moved clear of Andrew Cole and Alan Shearer, who held the records of 34 goals in a single season before.

"You can see what my first thought is - to run towards the goal. Me and Jack spoke before the game - he wanted to give me the assist for the record-breaking goal. I knew I was going to get the ball there and I saw the keeper coming out.

"It was a great ball by Jack. When I chipped the ball, it was a really perfect bounce. I didn't think I was going to chip but the possibility was there."

The Hammers managed to keep the Citizens at bay in the first half before three goals were scored in the second half to propel City back to the top of the table.

"Yes, of course I knew about it but we tried to create chances to score goals, and it was not easy," Haaland said acknowledging how tough it was dealing with West Ham.

"They came here just to defend for 90 minutes, and we struggled a bit in the first half, but it was an important win."

On his part, Hammers’ manager David Moyes was not happy with the manner in which his side conceded the goal scored by Haaland.

"The second goal, we give it away in a good position," the former Everton manager said.

"That was the first time that we allowed space for Haaland to run in behind, and the third goal was a deflection. Not a good result. Do performances matter at this time? Not as much as earlier in the season."

For the game, Pep Guardiola made changes, as Stefan Ortega was given his Premier League debut and Ederson was benched. Bernardo Silva replaced Ilkay Gundogan, and Nathan Ake returned to take the place of Manuel Akanji.