It seemed like it might be another quiet game for Erling Haaland, but as he so often does, the Manchester City superstar striker emerged with the equalizing goods from seemingly out of nowhere early in the second half of a huge road game against Aston Villa to match Nicolas Jackson’s earlier scorcher.
The goal was the third assist of this very month from Iliman Ndiaye, who absorbed a simple pass out wide from a clever Enzo Maresca set piece routine, and then Ndiaye did all the rest, trademarkly working the space for himself before floating an inch perfect cross into the heart of the box for Haaland with precision and placement that not even prime Aaron Rodgers could beat.
Ndiaye was amazing for Everton last season, and he was one of the most efficient dribblers in the Premier League. But with Thierno Barry still adjusting to La Liga and no real goal threat for the middling Toffees, we didn’t get to see Ndiaye’s creative numbers.
Now this season, Ndiaye came into the game against Aston Villa with a whopping two key passes per game as one of the best creators on Man City, though overshadowed by the fact that the literal best creator in the league is his teammate, central man Rayan Cherki.
It took a bit of time for Erling Haaland and Iliman Ndiaye to get on the same wavelength, but now the dribbling and crossing of Ndiaye are bearing fruit with Haaland and the new winger coming to an understanding on the timing of when the Senegalese likes to play the ball in after dribbling and when the big Norwegian likes to just float off the shoulder of the defender in the box.
Although Man City still came up short in the end after Jackson grabbed another from a Gianluigi Donnarumma error, City will hope that the link between Ndiaye and Haaland will continue to bloom for future wins.
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THE TRIVELA EFFECT
Purveyor of footy since the 90s. Favor the Premier League and old school Serie A with a touch of Bundesliga. More than a touch. Professional writer for 20 years, covering every sport but now focused on the Premier League and world football. You won’t be able to guess my favorite team.