{"id":842905,"date":"2026-09-10T12:20:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T12:20:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/842905\/"},"modified":"2026-09-10T12:20:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T12:20:18","slug":"erling-haaland-has-a-fiery-edge-when-provoked-and-there-are-parallels-with-an-nba-legend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/842905\/","title":{"rendered":"Erling Haaland has a fiery edge when provoked \u2013 and there are parallels with an NBA legend"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI was really keen on a hat-trick, and it seemed like he was very eager to stop me from getting it,\u201d Erling Haaland told TV2 after scoring twice in Manchester City\u2019s 2-0 victory over Porto on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

He was talking about Pablo Rosario, the Porto defender who hauled Haaland to the ground in the 93rd minute as the Norwegian roamed towards goal without the ball.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a little interesting, that,\u201d Haaland continued. \u201cYou\u2019ll be seeing a picture where he\u2019s grabbing my ass\u2026 it\u2019ll be interesting to see that picture.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is indeed footage. As the striker attempts to get back to his feet, albeit with a handful of the defender\u2019s shirt, Rosario grabs Haaland\u2019s backside. Haaland wags his finger, letting everybody know he thinks Rosario crossed a line, and he is clearly incensed.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Erling Haaland tussles with Pablo Rosario (TV2)<\/p>\n

The clash with Rosario highlights a fiery edge to Haaland that has been increasingly evident in recent years. He has always been up for these battles with defenders, and enjoys giving as much as he gets.<\/p>\n

But it has been a feature of his game that has become particularly prominent over the past 12 months or so, most likely a result of City playing long balls to him. It puts him up against the Premier League\u2019s biggest defenders, such as Dan Burn and Gabriel.<\/p>\n

Three of Haaland\u2019s five goals in City\u2019s last four matches have been headers, an area of his game that was always a relative weakness but suddenly seems to have improved. He says he has been practising them, even in the garden with his dad.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot concede half-metres to the best striker in the world,\u201d Porto coach Francesco Farioli put it on Tuesday night, and it means Haaland is often subjected to all kinds of rough tactics.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s the only striker I\u2019ve seen in my life that makes more fouls to defenders than defenders to him,\u201d his previous manager Pep Guardiola said earlier this year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never saw that. In the beginning of the season, the referees said it would be the opposite (in terms of holding another player or similar leading to a foul). Still, it\u2019s completely the opposite, honestly. Every time Erling touches the opponent, it\u2019s a foul from Erling. So, I don\u2019t understand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since signing for City from Borussia Dortmund in 2022, Haaland has been fouled 95 times in the Premier League, and committed a foul 98 times. It will be for that reason that he looked so incredulous as he saw Tuesday night\u2019s referee beckoning him over.<\/p>\n

He knew what was about to happen and he could not believe it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Haaland reacts to being shown a yellow card against Porto (Clive Brunskill\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

It happens often with Haaland, as defenders seem to be given licence to use all manner of rough tactics to deal with him. He, by contrast, often appears to be refereed more strictly; whenever he uses his frame, it does not take much for a foul to be given.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother day at the office,\u201d Haaland posted on Instagram in February, alongside an image of him battling with Newcastle\u2019s Burn.<\/p>\n

Despite regularly finding himself involved in such battles, Haaland clearly knows where the line is. He has never been sent off in his professional career.<\/p>\n

Haaland\u2019s treatment by defenders is reminiscent of legendary NBA star Shaquille O\u2019Neal, who opposition teams would regularly foul on purpose because he was relatively weak at shooting the resultant free throws. It was seen as a risk worth taking.<\/p>\n

The league later changed its rules but not to O\u2019Neal\u2019s benefit. It legalised zone defence, which enabled two or more opposition players to guard him, making his life harder.<\/p>\n

Speaking on the \u201cShaq\u201d documentary that was released in 2022, a former NBA official admitted he and his colleagues had to learn how to referee O\u2019Neal, and that he should have received far more fouls than he was actually given. Occasionally, O\u2019Neal lost his cool and did lash out.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Shaquille O\u2019Neal, left, received particularly close attention from opponents trying to stop him (Jeff Haynes\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

There are obvious parallels with Haaland. Another is that the rough treatment they receive often only makes them better. O\u2019Neal, speaking in that documentary, would regularly explain how he would be able to find extra gears when he was \u201cp***ed off\u201d, and it is very similar with Haaland.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt 1-1, he started grabbing my ass, and I thought, \u2018What are you doing?\u2019\u201d Haaland told TV2 last November, after a running battle with Italy\u2019s Gianluca Mancini while playing for Norway.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I fired myself up a bit and said to him, \u2018Thanks a lot for the motivation, let\u2019s f***ing have it,\u2019. Then I scored two goals; we won 4\u20131, so that\u2019s great. Thanks to him!\u201d<\/p>\n

As much as the fouls, both for and against, can wind him up, there are the many occasions when he gets a whack off the ball, dragged to the ground, or those grabs of the backside go completely unpunished.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe said before the game: we\u2019ll get into him, hard as we can, get into him, first one, bang, as soon as you can,\u201d the former Everton defender Conor Coady has said about their approach to Haaland in his debut season.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo two minutes into the game, Ben (Godfrey) goes bang, right into the back of his ankle. So Haaland\u2019s down. Next minute, we are stood organising, talking, and he gets up, makes a beeline for me and says, \u2018Was that you?\u2019 and I pointed to Ben and said, \u2018It was him!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u2018foul\u2019 \u2014 although it was not actually awarded \u2014 actually came after just seven seconds of the game. Haaland soon barged into Godfrey as revenge, and celebrated in the defender\u2019s face when he put City 1-0 up. The running battle continued throughout the game.<\/p>\n

He often sends a sarcastic thank you to opposition defenders who have riled him up during matches. In 2024, after a 0-0 draw with Inter in the Champions League, he asked Francesco Acerbi if he wanted his shirt, given how much the Italian had been clinging to him during the match.<\/p>\n

Last season, he relished the opportunity to thank Brentford\u2019s Sepp van den Berg for motivating him to score an early winner.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first five minutes, he kept on pushing me, so I thought, \u2018Alright, let\u2019s have it\u2019,\u201d he told Sky Sports at the time. \u201cThen I started pushing him back. I think it helps me because, to be honest, I was a bit tired going into the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was thinking it\u2019s going to be a tough game, but then after 10 seconds he started pushing me and he started motivating me, so all praise to him, honestly. He made me want to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is similar to how Shaq would be playing below his level in some matches until he was sparked into life by rough treatment.<\/p>\n

There are matches when Haaland can look far less imposing than he is capable of. He was criticised by Guardiola last season for not challenging Virgil van Dijk anywhere near enough at Anfield in February, and he was mocked by supporters at Old Trafford in January after he was kept quiet by Lisandro Martinez and Harry Maguire.<\/p>\n

Those performances came around the time that he was described as \u201cexhausted\u201d by Guardiola, and while Haaland admitted on Tuesday to finding it difficult to move on mentally from Norway\u2019s run to the World Cup quarter-finals, he seems to have started this season up for the fight.<\/p>\n

That is when Haaland is at his most dangerous.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI was really keen on a hat-trick, and it seemed like he was very eager to stop me…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":842906,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[10535,4896,355,6803,1084,403,99],"class_list":["post-842905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-champions-league","tag-manchester-city","tag-nba","tag-norway","tag-premier-league","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=842905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/842906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=842905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=842905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=842905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}