Erling Haaland scored twice in Manchester City’s 4-1 win over Southampton on Saturday, and the Norwegian forward was praised by Pep Guardiola.

Erling Haaland, on the same level as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo

The Iberian coach was impressed with Haaland’s performance of his second goal (a spectacular scissor kick) and said the Norwegian was on par with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

“In terms of the class of goalscorers, we’ve had two incredible decades with Cristiano and Lionel, but Erling is at that level.

The second goal was incredible. It is not easy to raise the ball in the air and score effectively. His talent is fabulous. We need him and his goals to achieve our goals.

He is very similar to Cristiano…Lionel is a more complete player, but Erling is a machine. The other two guys dominated football for almost two decades, winning titles and doing so many wonderful things.

Ever since I met Erling, he had an incredibly fair mind and was always happy, always smiling. Messi, when he scored two goals instead of three, could be upset that he didn’t do more. Erling is always in an incredible mood.

He had an incredible impact, not only on the field. I have a feeling, maybe I’m wrong, that he’s so happy with us. He respects me a lot. We must take care of him. The numbers at his age are incredible” – Pep Guardiola.

Know:

• After Saturday’s performance, Haaland has scored 44 goals in all competitions this season.

• With 30 Premier League goals, Erling has already equaled the single-season bests of Ruud van Nistelrooy (2002/03) and Mohamed Salah (2017/18).

• 22-year-old Erling Haaland needs four more goals to equal the record of Alan Shearer and Andy Cole (34 goals in a Premier League season).

• Manchester City is in second place in the Premier League, five points behind leaders Arsenal.