Erling Haaland admitted he was bemused after being targeted by a chant about Marc Cucurella but insisted he didn’t care after brushing off the Spaniard to score in Manchester City’s 2-0 win over Chelsea on Sunday.
The Norwegian opened the scoring in the 18th minute at Stamford Bridge, powering into the box and having little trouble holding the Euro 2024 winner at bay before clipping his finish over Blues goalkeeper Robert Sanchez.
Mateo Kovacic wrapped up the three points with a brilliant run and finish towards the end of the second half, a few minutes after Cucurella had been greeted after being substituted by a tune from the City fans that was recited frequently during Spain’s celebrations earlier in the summer.
“Cucu, Cucurella, he eats paella, Cucu, Cucurella, he drinks Estrella, Haaland you’d better tremble as Cucurella is coming,” the chant goes.
It seemed to have little effect on Haaland, who revealed Cucurella had asked for a jersey swap last year.
He said: “The guy asked for my shirt last season and now he’s singing bad stuff about me. He can do what he wants, I couldn’t care less. It was an interesting song from that guy. I don’t have much more to say.”
Haaland added: “It’s three points and a perfect start. First game is always hard for everyone, it doesn’t matter if you have a pre-season or not.
“I actually had a long pre-season so that’s good. I don’t actually feel perfect because I’m not in the perfect shape, but yeah it’s good to start and to win.
“Of course I want to get more involved, that’s what Pep wants. But in a game like this, do I need to be more involved? I don’t know. This is the million dollar question. Of course I want to improve as an overall player with the ball. I want to give more assists back to the players that give me assists.
“I want to become an overall better footballer, like a player, not in terms of goals or anything, just a player.”
The goal continued Haaland’s incredible record since signing for City from Borussia Dortmund in 2022, bagging his 91st strike on his 100th appearance for the club.
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