Erling Haaland compared to Cristiano Ronaldo after Manchester City brace

Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring for Manchester City on his Premier League debut against West Ham.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Erling Haaland has been compared to Cristiano Ronaldo by Manchester United legend Roy Keane following his impressive Premier League debut for Manchester City on Sunday.

The Norwegian striker hit a goal in each half to seal a 2-0 victory for City against West  Ham at the London Stadium and Keane - in his role as a pundit for Sky Sports - was full of praise for the 22-year-old.

"He is like Ronaldo with his darting runs. He doesn't get too involved with the build-up but when it comes in the box he’s alive," said Keane, who played alongside Cristiano at United between 2003 and 2005.

Former City defender Micah Richards was also impressed by Haaland's debut, which saw him open the scoring with a penalty after winning the spot-kick himself in the first half and then latching onto a superb pass from Kevin De Bruyne to make it 2-0 in the second period.

"How many times have we talked about City and said 'they have got no one in the width of the goal'? Now [they have got] him," he said.

"The runs that he makes, he's going to score so many goals."

Ben Hayward
Weekend editor

Ben Hayward is a European football writer and Tottenham Hotspur fan with over 15 years’ experience, he has covered games all over the world - including three World Cups, several Champions League finals, Euros, Copa America - and has spent much of that time in Spain. Ben speaks English and Spanish, currently dividing his time between Barcelona and London, covering all the big talking points of the weekend on FFT: he’s also written several list features and interviewed Guglielmo Vicario for the magazine.