Sunday saw Premier League giants Manchester City and Arsenal face off in a highly-anticipated showdown, but while these two teams are vying for the title, they delivered a lackluster 90 minutes of football for the second time in a row.
Both teams struggled to show quality in the final third but despite this, it was one Manchester City player who caught flack following full-time. That man was Erling Haaland, the Etihad Stadium goalscoring machine regarded by many as the best striker in world football.
For the second time this season, the Norwegian ace came up short against Arsenal's rock-solid defense, led by William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhães. The 23-year-old clashed with the Gunners center-backs and while they reconciled at full-time, the former Dortmund sensation could not avoid the wrath of Sky Sports pundit Roy Keane.
The former Manchester United midfielder, regarded as the greatest Premier League captain in history, slammed Haaland's performance and compared the player's all-round game to that of a League Two player.
The Man City striker struggled to get involved and cut an isolated figure down the middle. Unlike previous Guardiola strikers, Haaland is not comfortable dropping deep and linking with others, with Keane calling for the striker to improve this aspect of his game.
"The levels of his general play is so poor, and not just today, I think his general laying stuff off, headers, or whatever it might be in terms of front of goal is best in the world," the former Manchester United skipper told Sky Sports.
"He's almost like a League 2 player"
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) March 31, 2024
Roy Keane and Micah Richards were not impressed with Erling Haaland pic.twitter.com/kbz0qNrTFQ
"But for his general play for such a player, it is so poor, not just today, I think he has to improve that he's almost like a League Two player.
"That's the way I look at him his general play has to improve and it will do over the next few years."
Haaland remains the Premier League's top scorer this season with 18 goals to his name. However, this is a steep decline from last season's tally.
Additionally, Arsenal are not the only team to figure out how to stop the Norwegian. Erling also failed to score in open play against Liverpool, Chelsea, and Tottenham this season, which should concern Guardiola.
Furthermore, while the Cityzens remain a point behind Arsenal, they are now three behind current leaders Liverpool and have a trickier hill to overcome following Sunday's stalemate.