Former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock has compared Erling Haaland to Swedish legend Zlatan Ibrahimovic after the former scored a brace in the 5-0 UEFA Champions League win over Sparta Prague on Wednesday night, Afrosport reports.
The Norway international scored a beautiful acrobatic backheel which has gotten everyone talking.
Warnock believes that there is no one else like Haaland, asserting that the Norwegian striker is very special and was thrilled with the body manipulation he used to score the acrobatic goal, similar to how Ibrahimovic used to during his 24-year-old career, notably his stunner in a 4-2 friendly win over England in November 2012 which earned him the 2013 FIFA Puskas award.
“We’ve seen it before with Erling Haaland, with that goal against Borussia Dortmund, which was a similar, acrobatic goal,” BBC Sport.
“The only other player I’ve seen score goals like that is Zlatan Ibrahimovic. He was the type of player that could get his body into certain positions and to the height that no one else could.
“The athleticism for such a big guy is remarkable. It just shows you that he doesn’t care how he scores the goals, it’s making sure he makes contact and he knows how to get into certain areas. I don’t think anyone else can score goals like him.”
Haaland has become the second-fastest player to score 20 Champions League goals for one club, doing so for Man City in 23 games with only former Manchester United forward Ruud van Nistelrooy reaching the milestone faster.
