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Star striker Erling Haaland completed the 300th goal of his club career as Manchester City climbed to the top of the Premier League with a 1-0 win over Coventry FC in away fixture on Saturday.
The Norway superstar has dominated the Premier League promoted teams, having found the net 20 times against them, only failing against Sunderland last term. His header in the 26th minute was enough to seal City's third win in three matches and a top-of-the-table position. This marks Haaland's 165th goal for City, having hit 86 goals previously for Borussia Dortmund, 29 for Red Bull Salzburg and 20 for Molde FK. The 125 million pound signee from Argentina and former Chelsea star Enzo Fernandez made his debut in Man City colours and was involved in Haaland's goal. Playing as a stand-in for an injured Nico O'Reilly, his pass to Antoine Semenyo was the precursor to Haaland's header in the 26th minute. Coventry were not easy opponents to play against, with summer addition Taiwo Awoniyi fluffing his one-on-one chance with Gianluigi Donnarumma, while the goalie also made saves against Jack Rudoni and Ellis Simms. Frank Lampard's side are yet to score a goal since their return to the top flight of English football. After the win, manager Enzo Maresca said, as quoted by the club's official website, "It is an important win, different from the first two. They have all been different." Today, 9/10 times you finish conceding because we kept them alive by missing chances.In the end, we finished by suffering together, and it is an important win." "I am very happy. I know the players day-by-day, we know each other. It means we will get better and better," he signed off. Coventry boss Lampard said, as quoted by Sky Sports, "Good performance from us. Felt like we deserved something from the game. Our defensive organisation was great. We created moments of pressure, three big chances. The players took on the challenge really well; they are disappointed and so am I." "I never criticise players, because I understand pressure. This is the level. It's the brutal reality of it. But we do not play Manchester City every week. The Premier League is a high level, but on reflection there is a lot of good to use in our mentality." "Against Arsenal it felt like a first Premier League game in 25 years. Today felt like a competitive Premier League team coming with a clear idea and threat. The fixture list has been tough on us. We cannot lose belief off the back of three games, and so we must look forward," he signed off. (ANI)
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