Former Oasis frontman and Manchester City superfan Liam Gallagher has taken aim at Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher after the Sky Sports pundits heaped praise on Erling Haaland.
Haaland has made a seismic impact since arriving at the Etihad in a £51million deal from Borussia Dortmund - and he continued his electric start to life in the Premier League by bagging a hat-trick in City's 6-3 win over Manchester United on Sunday.
The 22-year-old's latest treble means he has now plundered 17 goals in just 11 games for Pep Guardiola's side. And the irrepressible forward's latest display left both Neville and Carragher purring on Monday night.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Neville said: “He’s one of those players that I would say if you get an opportunity as a football fan to get a ticket in the ground where he's playing. Go and watch him. You could go watch Ronaldo go and watch Messi go watch something that's just completely you know, it's like a one-off type opportunity to watch a player and that's what Erling Haaland is. He is exceptional.”
Carragher added: "It feels like anything is possible with Haaland. It is a derby and there aren’t many hat-tricks in this fixture. It felt like a signing for the PL, he is everyone’s signing, not just City. We normally develop world class players, they don’t arrive here. We’ve got one now."
But Gallagher, a renowned City fan, was less than enthused by the pair's adulation for Haaland - and he hit back on social media by branding the duo 'Bert and Ernie'; characters from the children's show Sesame Street.
He tweeted: "Man City have signed Erling Haaland, he’s ours not the Premier League's. So what’s all this 'WE' snizzle coming out of Bert and Ernie's traps on Monday Night Football. Bumbaclarts."
Join the debate! What did you make of Haaland's performance in the Manchester derby? Let us know here.
Haaland's remarkable start to life in England shows no sign of slowing down. The striker's latest treble means the Norwegian prodigy has racked up hat-tricks in three consecutive home league matches.
And the Manchester City star is already just nine goals shy of the 23 strikes that Mohamed Salah and Son Heung-Min bagged last year to share the Premier League's Golden Boot award.
But Haaland stayed cool after the match when discussing his latest three-goal haul. When he was quizzed on his thoughts after the final whistle he told Sky Sports: "Not bad. We scored six goals, what can you say? It’s amazing, win at home, six goals, it’s nice.
"You can feel it all the time, you see the passes we give each other. We always want to attack and go forward and this is what I like about the team. We always want to go and attack, in the end it’s amazing, nothing more to say."
