Mateo Kovacic highlighted what he expects from every Manchester City player in Erling Haaland’s absence.
The defending champions defeated Luton 2-1 on Sunday, but they did so without their injured top scorer, who is projected to miss the team’s next important games because of a stress fracture in his foot. But Kovacic is not too concerned since he thinks the team can win if all of the players step up their game when the important players are not available.
“Obviously we missed key players like Erling and Kevin, it’s never easy when you miss such big players,” Kovacic said in a statement to reporters.
“But they are not here right now; in order for us to win games, everyone needs to give 10, 20, or even more like we did on Sunday.”
City’s Premier League winless run of four games—three draws, one loss, and one tie against Chelsea, Liverpool, and Tottenham—was snapped with the victory over Luton. Bernardo Silva and Jack Grealish, who scored in the second half to secure the much-needed victory, were instrumental in the turnaround in the absence of Haaland, De Bruyne, and Jeremy Doku.
We were playing well, so the team felt confidence, according to Kovacic.
Not bad, we had a few draws that we could have won. Sometimes, this is football; other times, it’s about how you bounce back. We returned today in a positive manner. Three major points. Overall, we played excellent football; particularly in the first half, we did a terrific job of finding people in the pocket, which is what we wanted. The goals appear when you persist and do what you do best. I’m content with the three points, but we could have scored many more.”
Alf Inge Haaland sold his son in the Fantasy Premier League, raising the possibility that Haaland will be sidelined for a considerable amount of time.
Since they have already advanced to the knockout stages as group leaders, Pep Guardiola may be considering resting some of his most important players when they play Red Star in the Champions League. With the teams above them not playing until Sunday, all eyes will be on their next Premier League match, which is against Crystal Palace on Saturday. A victory over the Londoners may move them within a point of league leaders Liverpool.