Here are your Manchester City evening headlines for Tuesday, August 23.
Pep Guardiola knows what Man City cannot afford from Barcelona friendly
Pep Guardiola was happy to talk about how Newcastle had impressed against his Manchester City side or the character his side had shown to salvage a point but was less keen whenever Nathan Ake was raised.
The Blues boss gave short, sharp answers to any questions about the state of Ake, who looked upset as he was forced off after just 20 minutes at St James' Park with a groin injury. Whether he would have been involved against Barcelona or not in midweek, that decision is no longer the manager's to make and the concern is for the longer term starting with Crystal Palace on Saturday.
With Aymeric Laporte still weeks away from a return, losing Ake as well leaves Guardiola with just Ruben Dias and John Stones as his senior centre-backs - two world-class defenders on their day but still only two bodies. Luke Mbete is an untried academy option and Kalvin Phillips or Rodri could drop back if needed, but these are far from ideal circumstances so early in the season and especially coming on the back of the monstering the defence suffered against Newcastle.
Erling Haaland has already shown he brings much more to Man City than just goals
After just three Premier League outings, Erling Haaland is already doing exactly what Manchester City bought him for.
The 22-year-old striker - who cost City £51m earlier this summer - arrived in Manchester with a mouth-watering goals record, having scored 86 in 89 matches in all competitions for Borussia Dortmund.
In three league games for Pep Guardiola's side he has found the net on three occasions, suggesting he will be just as clinical in-front of goal in sky blue as he was in yellow. However, as was the case against Bournemouth the weekend before, in City's 3-3 draw with Newcastle on Sunday Haaland showed that he brings much more to City's attack than just goals.
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