And suddenly the crowd at the Etihad Stadium shouted their joy twenty minutes from the end of the match against Burnley.
Manchester City had long since folded the Premier League match and were well ahead 3-0 (final victory 3-1).
And in the 71st minute, Pep Guardiola decided to bring out Kevin De Bruyne and bring on the pitch Erling Haaland, second for the Ballon d'Or.
A small event since the Norwegian had not played a match since December 6 and City's defeat against Aston Villa (0-1).
Haaland suffered a stress fracture in his foot.
At that moment, his goal tally stood at nineteen goals, in all competitions, in twenty-two appearances.
Guardiola wanted to take his time with his best player.
“He is still not with the team,” explained the Spanish coach of the Citizens a few weeks ago.
He feels better but he hasn't done a single workout with us yet.
I hope that in January he can come back with us.
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Also read “Power”, “accuracy”, “physical monster”… this quintuplet which makes Haaland a unique scorer
And so it happened on January 31st.
Obviously positioned at the forefront of the attack, Haaland tried to weigh on Burnley's defense.
Twice well launched by his teammates, the Norwegian showed himself, unsurprisingly, to be short of rhythm.
Each time, he lacked the push necessary to make the difference.
But the main thing for him was just to get back on the field.
The hardest part now seems to be behind him.
Haaland now has a little less than two weeks to start on March 13 in the round of 16 first leg of the Champions League against Copenhagen.