Pep Guardiola talked up Erling Haaland after the Manchester City striker bounced back from missing a penalty against Bayern Munich.
Haaland had the chance to put the tie to bed in the first half after the visitors were given a penalty for a handball from Dayot Upemecano, with the referee judging that the defender had his hands in an unnatural position from Ilkay Gundogan's shot. However, when the Norwegian finally stepped up to the spot after some gamesmanship from Bayern players had delayed the kick, he blazed it over the bar to keep the tie alive.
Amends were made in the second half when Haaland left Upemecano on the floor before blasting the ball past Yann Sommer to score the opening goal of the night and his 48th goal of the season. Moving onto 12 goals in the Champions League, the record for a single season of 17 by Cristiano Ronaldo remains in sight for the in-form City forward.
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For Guardiola, it was another penalty missed by the team and an opportunity gone to control the key moments in a game. But with Haaland's ability to learn and refocus, the manager has no concerns as he celebrated his side making a third straight Champions League semi-final.
"That is everyone can do that in this situation, he’ll learn how to do it," said Guardiola. "He’s 22 years old – for him he’s an incredible machine, he wanted it but he’ll learn in the future, next time he’ll be more secure in the future."
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