Wolves recorded a shock win over Manchester City at the weekend – and it was one very quiet day at the office for Erling Haaland.
Wolves inflicted the first Premier League defeat of the season for City.
Ruben Dias scored an own goal after brilliant work by Pedro Neto.
Julian Alvarez scored a brilliant equaliser from a free-kick.
But Hwang Hee-chan popped up to score the winner in the second-half.
The South Korean’s goal came with around 25 minutes still left to play.
That meant Wolves had to be on top form defensively for the closing stages. And they were, with Craig Dawson, Max Kilman and Toti Gomes all excellent.
Dawson in particular was brilliant. Even Micah Richards had to admit he was ‘fantastic’ against his former side.
And there was a moment in the first-half where even Haaland acknowledged the brilliance of the 33-year-old…
Erling Haaland knew early on he was up against a top player in Craig Dawson
Dawson was truly outstanding on Saturday.
He’s had many really impressive outings since he joined the club from West Ham United for around £3 million back in January.
But this was easily one of his best displays to date, against an elite striker in Haaland.
Dawson just gave him nothing all day.
And one of the best moments came in just the 6th minute of the game.
Dias lofted a through ball over the top to Matheus Nunes, who crossed first time for Haaland.
The Norwegian would have had a simple finish, but Dawson nicked the ball off his toe right at the last second.
The moment was shared today by Wolves on social media, and many people will not have seen Haaland actually clasp Dawson’s hand in acknowledgment after the ball had rolled out of play.
Fair play to Haaland
This was great to see, from a player who is arguably the very best in the world in his position.
Haaland has enjoyed an incredible career to date, and regularly bullies defenders in games while scoring many goals.
But he just wasn’t allowed anything by Dawson on Saturday.
It was an incredible piece of defending to nick that ball away from him.
Had he not been there and Haaland had scored, it would potentially have been a very different game and a long old afternoon for Wolves.