Erling Haaland’s father Alfie could not help but send a congratulatory message laced with sarcasm to Arsenal after \u00a0\u00a0 their Community Shield triumph over Manchester City.<\/p>\n
Norwegian goal-striking sensation Haaland invariably experienced yet another dismal stroll in the Community Shield on Sunday before being substituted right before the hour mark just before the Gunners proceeded to eke out a narrow win over the Cityzens, courtesy of an own goal deflecting off Manuel Akanji from a misaligned Leandro Trossard shot that led to an extra time penalty-shootout that went the way of the Gunners.<\/p>\n
Granted that Haaland\u2019s showing was definitely not par for the course and well below his stratospheric best, yet one can surely easily understand the father\u2019s frame of mind when he couldn\u2019t resist posting a tongue-in-cheek congratulatory message to Arsenal on social media in response to a post highlighting Haaland\u2019s \u2018stinker\u2019 in the Community Shield similar to the one he had last season against Liverpool.<\/p>\n
The senior Haaland wrote: “Well done Arsenal, great win. You must be favourites for the league now.”<\/p>\n
Last season, despite Haaland’s similar dismal performance debuting for City in the Community Shield against Liverpool, during which he failed to bury an open chance from three yards,the prodigious striker went on to score 52 goals in 53 appearances for City as they became only the second English side to win the treble, and Blues supporters will definitely be hoping for a repeat performance from the Norwegian in 2023-24.<\/p>\n
For Alfie it was probably just an antsy retaliatory gesture reminding the naysayers not to put the cart before the horse again in reading too much into the Community Shield\u2019s dubious stature and importance as a pre-emptive Premier League fixture.<\/p>\n
He is right, of course.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"