RALPH Hasenhuttl admitted the presence of Erling Haaland made it more difficult for his side to defend – even when the Norwegian was not scoring.

The 22-year-old striker is romping home to the Premier League top goalscorer award already and makes his Manchester City favourites to retain their title again.

Haaland has 15 goals in his first 9 Premier League games for Manchester City after arriving from German outfit Borussia Dortmund in the summer.

With 20 in 13 in all competitions for Pep Guardiola’s City, it takes Haaland’s all-time goalscoring record to 151 in 170 matches – and at more than a goal per game since he turned 18.

"The problem is that even if he’s not immediately scoring, you have to be aware of him much more I think,” Hasenhuttl explained, with only AFC Bournemouth having halted him.

“Then the centre-backs are a little bit more fixed in the centre and they can’t slide so good. This makes it a little bit harder for us to press. You have to be very brave to do it.”

Haaland only netted once in the 4-0 defeat over Saints, putting the final nail in the coffin after Joao Cancelo, Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez already ended the match as a contest.

The grip Haaland had on the Etihad Stadium’s support was as such they were not satisfied until he finally got on the scoresheet.

Haaland had struck the inside of the post, missed his footing with an open goal and been denied by Bazunu on more than one occasion as he toiled for the reward.

Hasenhuttl added: “In the first half there were two times when we didn’t slide and they play so quick so there’s immediately a big chance.

“It’s better to be early there and go early because anyway it’s hard to defend. This is the way we tried it today and it worked sometimes quite well but not always.

“But we defended it in the end, even if we don’t win it on the side you can defend it still, you have to be brave. But it makes it harder, that’s for sure, because you have such a fantastic striker in the middle and then it’s easier for everybody around him to shine.” 

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