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If there is a doomsday scenario for this Manchester City side, it is having to do without Erling Haaland. So when the striker collided with a goalpost at Villa Park and stayed down, hearts were in mouths. The goal post probably felt the force of the impact as well, and an immovable object is about the only thing that can stop Haaland these days. To make matters worse, he suffered the injury in the act of scoring, only for the offside flag to go up anyway. Haaland looked in some discomfort as he tried to gather his breath, but he did manage to play on, although the best chance to rescue a point and extend a nine-game unbeaten run had already been and gone. In truth, City didn't deserve anything from this game. After falling behind inside the first quarter, they threatened only sporadically and suffered from a lack of creativity and a lack of attacking identity, beyond trying to get the ball to Haaland. He had scored eight of City's last nine goals heading into this game, with Bernardo Silva breaking the run with the second in Villarreal in midweek. After scoring, the club captain said he didn't care if Haaland got every goal the Blues scored this season as long as they were winning games. The problem with that is that the Norwegian's astonishing run couldn't last forever. At Villa Park, Haaland was better in his own box than the opposition's. He twice won big defensive headers from corners and also cleared a long throw with his head. At the other end, his team struggled to get him into the game. It had felt like a matter of time until he got a big chance in the first 10 minutes, with City's midfielders finding space to drive forward, only for passes to be misplaced or runs to be mistimed. Not long after Matty Cash had scored, Haaland got his chance. Bernardo Silva found his run this time, but as he opened his body to finish, Emiliano Martinez read his intentions and made a comfortable save. That shot came in the 22nd minute and was Haaland's first of the game, but after that, he was barely involved. It took 49 minutes to deliver him another chance when he headed Phil Foden's cross at Martinez. That was only Haaland's third touch in the Villa box, despite the fact tthat hey were chasing the game. In fairness to Villa, they shackled Haaland superbly once they had settled into the game. Ezri Konsa and Pau Torres doubled up on him at times and they never really let themselves be caught high enough for the striker to run in behind. When City's midfielders did find space to run into, Haaland was making runs but finding it difficult to dislodge his markers. It's become pretty clear that City are relying on Haaland. While there are worse traits to have, you can't bank on him scoring every week, even if he had done so for 12 successive games. This also means the key to stopping the Blues is pretty clear. Keep Haaland quiet, and that might just be enough. It proved to be enough for Villa and will leave City with some questions to answer. During Haaland's remarkable run, it's been easy to laugh off the idea thatthey are overreliant on him, but when this was a reminder that this hot streak wasn't going to last forever, and when Haaland cooled off, nobody else was capable of stepping up. --- Here at the Manchester Evening News, we’re dedicated to bringing you the best Manchester City coverage and analysis. Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest City news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe. You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here to be sent all the day’s biggest stories. And finally, if you’d rather listen to our expert analysis then make sure to check out our Talking City podcast. Our shows are available on all podcast platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts , and you can also watch along on YouTube .
