No excuses for a dry period, says Haaland after scoring a penalty against Liverpool

Erling Haaland said fatigue is no excuse for his poor goalscoring run in 2026 as he demands more from himself to keep Manchester City in the hunt for four trophies.

Haaland scored a dramatic injury-time winner from the penalty spot as City beat Liverpool 2-1 on Sunday to remain six points behind Arsenal in the Premier League title race.

The 25-year-old has scored 28 times in 36 appearances for City this season.

But he has not scored from open play in the Premier League since December 20 and has scored just three goals in his last 13 appearances.

“Of course I haven’t scored enough goals since the beginning of the year and I know I have to improve,” said the Norwegian.

“I know I need to be sharper and better at this, and this is something I need to work on.

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“I have to keep going because this is what everyone deserves and expects.”

Pep Guardiola said last month that Haaland was “exhausted” by a grueling schedule, with City still involved in four competitions.

Guardiola’s men face Arsenal in the League Cup final next month, progress to the last 16 of the Champions League and face fourth-tier Salford in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

«I don’t want to talk about why I didn’t perform. I don’t think there is any excuse. Fatigue is on my mind a lot,» Haaland added.

«It’s a lot of games. Look at the schedule, it’s not easy and for me it’s about staying fit, that’s the most important thing, and trying to be ready to help the team.»

It looked like City would fall nine points behind Arsenal at the top of the table until a chaotic final at Anfield.

The visitors fell behind after Dominik Szoboszlai’s brilliant free-kick with just six minutes of normal time remaining until Haaland leveled Bernardo Silva.

Haaland kept his cool from the spot in a frenzied atmosphere to revive City’s title race hopes

It can pile the pressure on Arsenal further with a win over Fulham on Wednesday to halve the gap at the top before the Gunners face Brentford 24 hours later.

“We have seen before that the title race is only over,” said Haaland.

“Right now I have to concentrate on Fulham because there are still a lot of games to go.” pdf view.

Published on February 9, 2026