Man City boss Pep Guardiola implores star striker Haaland to sit back out after lastly ending his barren spell: ‘Stop placing stress on your self, Erling!’

Pep Guardiola has told Manchester City‘s Erling Haaland to stop heaping pressure on himself after the megastar admitted there was no excuse for his patchy form.

Haaland netted a stoppage-time penalty at Anfield on Sunday to complete a dramatic late comeback over Liverpool but hasn’t scored from open play for eight Premier League matches.

The Norwegian has 21 goals already this season and looks likely to win a third golden boot in four years but insisted that he must improve after beating Liverpool.

Guardiola labelled Haaland the best striker in the world last week and wants him to take a step back and relax.

‘The problem with Erling is that he has to deal with his own numbers and expectations,’ Guardiola said. ‘That is the challenge for him. He puts a lot of responsibility on himself.

‘I always say to him not to put too much pressure (on himself). Rely on his instincts, on his movements, anticipate the actions that his gut does better than anyone else in the world.

Pep Guardiola (left) has told Erling Haaland to stop putting pressure on himself after he ended his barren run in front of goal

‘He is calm. But he puts pressure on himself. He knows how much we need him, he doesn’t want to leave the team disappointed. That is a big attribute.

‘I would prefer that to somebody who doesn’t care. He’s completely the opposite, he suffers when he doesn’t score a goal. Don’t suffer, you do your best.’

Guardiola claimed that Haaland had ‘fire in his eyes’ when lining up the penalty on Sunday and the wild celebrations indicated a release of frustration amid an unusually barren run.

The 25-year-old had been a peripheral figure until assisting Bernardo Silva’s equaliser then slotting away the spot kick, proving his worth to City in their title hunt that continues at home against Fulham on Wednesday night.

‘The last games, maybe he doesn’t have the numbers that he wants, but we are in the position that we are thanks to him,’ Guardiola added on a player who is now part of the four-man leadership group.

‘For three quarters of the season (so far), if Erling didn’t score, I don’t know who was going to score. We are in the position in the Champions League, and especially in the Premier League, that without Erling it would not be possible.

‘He wants to help all the time. Look at the way he celebrated the goal – he is a guy who desperately wants to help the team and the club.

‘We won the Treble because he arrived, he scored I don’t know how many goals, and the expectations are there.

Haaland seemed to return to form against Liverpool on Sunday but is still on an open play draught in terms of goals

‘When you go four or five games without scoring, it is like ‘oh what happened, what happened?’ Of course he has to be fresh in his mind, happy and enjoying. Don’t think too much, even when missing shots.’

As of Tuesday afternoon, there were almost 4,000 tickets available on general sale for the Fulham clash to the backdrop of tensions between supporters and the club over ticketing issues.

‘We desperately need our fans,’ Guardiola said. ‘I think the players deserve the support that we have away and the Etihad. We need them, our fans, because they are an incredible group of players and a lot of them are new. It’s the first time they are experiences the pressure of competing for titles.’