Erling Haaland admits Manchester City were ‘not good enough’ in disappointing late draw with Monaco in UEFA Champions League

Eric Dier won and converted a controversial 90th-minute penalty, awarded against Nico Gonzalez for dangerous play after a VAR review, ensuring City had to settle for a 2-2 draw as Erling Haaland’s brilliant first-half double was cancelled out at Stade Louis-II.

The 25-year-old admitted he did not see the incident which led to Monaco’s dramatic late equaliser but conceded “if you kick someone in the face, I guess it’s a penalty”. The striker preferred to focus on how City failed to close out the contest from a commanding position.

Guardiola’s men had 18 shots and over 70% possession, with both Phil Foden and Tijjani Reijnders hitting the woodwork either side of half-time.

Those missed chances would prove costly, and Haaland told TNT Sports: “We don’t feel good. We don’t win, we do something unnecessary in the second half, and I don’t think we played well enough, so we don’t deserve to win. That’s why.

“I think we need more energy, we need to get at them more as we did in the first half. We dominated much more, and now in the second half, they took the lead much more. I don’t think it’s good enough.”

Haaland scored his two goals from just seven touches of the ball – one nonchalant flick and another imperious header – underlining his incredible proficiency when in possession, but also his ability to occupy opponents just through his presence alone.

He continued: “I still think I’m involved in the game, doing movements and giving space to others, so it’s not only about touching the ball if you’re involved in the game or not.

“I think you can be involved in the game many other ways, and that’s my job. I did my job in the first half, in the second half I didn’t, so yeah.”

Haaland now has 11 goals in all competitions for City this season, but the player who finished only 26th in last month’s Ballon d’Or rankings for 2025 is not satisfied, feeling he will always be judged solely on his goals as a striker.

When asked if his own second-half performance contributed to City’s failure to preserve the victory, and specifically if he had done his job, Haaland added: “Of course not, I didn’t score, I didn’t finish the game, so no.

“But every Champions League game is tough. Look at last year, we went out, so every single game is tough. There aren’t many teams that have won their first two games, and that’s how it is.”

City face a trip to Villarreal in their next Champions League encounter on October 21, knowing it is now over a year since they collected three points on the road in Europe.

Shay Given told TNT Sports: “The frustration tonight is that you just felt the next goal was going to come, but they weren’t ruthless enough. They have to kill games off.

“It came down to the wire last season to get into the knockout stages. (Pep) Guardiola wants it done and dusted as soon as possible, so that will frustrate him.

“It feels a bit like that (a defeat). It feels like they’re a bit deflated. You see Haaland walking off the pitch, shaking his head, having scored twice. It was simply one-way traffic, but they never got that third, killer goal to put it to bed.

“At 2-1, it’s always a dangerous scoreline, and maybe the penalty was controversial. But Monaco kept going until the end and got that penalty.”

Former City defender Joleon Lescott added: “I thought they were the better team. They nullified Monaco to a few chances, and they created enough chances themselves to be out of sight, but there will be frustration because of the late equaliser.

“Conceding so late on to draw, regardless of the game, always feels like a defeat. I do feel this is a sign that City aren’t yet back to their best. They would have gone on to record a convincing 3-1 or 4-1 win if they were. At the moment, they’re just not seeing games out, but overall the performance was positive.”

Guardiola was not drawn to passing judgement on the penalty incident – although he admitted his side had to “defend an unfair free-kick” leading up to the decision being given by referee Jesus Gil Manzano.

The Catalan said it was always the plan to withdraw Rodri after 60 minutes as the midfielder builds up his fitness, but Monaco would then reassert themselves and force the equaliser to extend City’s winless run away from home in the Champions League to five games.

Guardiola told TNT Sports: “It was a really good game. We made some decisions, we created a lot of chances. Unfortunately, at the end, we defended an unfair free kick, not perfectly, and we conceded a penalty where we touched the ball first, there was no intention. But yeah, it’s what it is.

“I think we were much better than them. We always try to play to create more chances and concede fewer. Sometimes you win, sometimes it’s not possible.

“But, yes, many things once again in situations, and that’s all. We know from experience (how hard it is to play away in Europe), but we have a good point.”