Guardiola praises 'incredible professional' Haaland

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said Erling Haaland is an 'incredible professional' after the Norwegian scored twice in his side's 3-1 win at Young Boys all but secured their spot in the Champions League knockout stage.

Haaland scored for the first time in six Champions League games with a penalty in the 67th minute after Mohamed Camara's tackle on Rodri in the box.

City's goal-scoring machine added a fabulous second goal when he moved the ball from his left foot to his right before firing it into the top corner in the 86th.

Haaland, who rewrote several scoring records last season, added another one on Wednesday, breaking Kylian Mbappe's mark as the youngest player to score 37 Champions League goals. The Norwegian striker, who is 23 years and 96 days, did it in 33 games.

"He has the pressure from what happened last season. Not just last season. He has to score seven goals every single game and it is impossible. He is happy. He scored a lot of goals. People want him to fail after scoring 52 goals," said Guardiola.

"Maybe in the right moment of the season he will be there even better than now. In the Champions League again he is there. We are really pleased he is a guy with hunger. He is so humble. He is an incredible professional. He is a great competitor.

"He is involved in the games and participates more in our process. I don't want him to just to be there in the box and score goals.

"If he is there involved when we arrive in the box he will be more clever. I have no doubts and he has a desire to improve."

Guardiola was delighted with the performance of his entire team, having had 26 shots and enjoyed more than 68% of the ball.

**City's 3-1 win over Young Boys extended their club-record run of unbeaten matches in Europe to 17. That form stretched back to the start of last season's Champions League, which saw them lift the trophy for the first time, involving 11 victories and six draws.

**It also saw Pep Guardiola equal his longest unbeaten run in the Champions League as manager, drawing level with the 16 games without defeat during his Barcelona tenure between 2011 and 2012.

** Among English teams, only Manchester United had a longer unbeaten run in Europe – of 25 games between 2007 and 2009.