Erling Haaland scored again at Villa Park on Saturday with his forehead.
The Norwegian rose at the back post to head Manchester City level in the 52nd minute, before Nicolas Jackson’s second of the afternoon settled a 2-1 result for Aston Villa and ended City’s perfect start to the Premier League season. The goal was Haaland’s fourth headed league finish of the campaign, part of a wider shift in how the 26-year-old is scoring.
Headers now account for 46% of Haaland’s 13 goals in all competitions in 2026-27, according to Brit Brief. The same number last season was 16%. In his debut season at the Etihad, 2022-23, it was 15%. For a striker whose heading was often treated as the one soft spot in a frightening skill set, it is a sharp reversal.
Garden drills with his father
The technique work has been deliberate, and some of it has taken place in the family garden. Haaland’s father Alfie, himself a former Premier League midfielder at City and Leeds United, was helping Erling with heading drills in the days before his Champions League goal against Porto earlier this autumn, Brit Brief reported.
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Teammate Iliman Ndiaye has described what the shift looks like from the pitch.
“It’s easy to play with him, you know he’s going to score goals for us. You just have to get the ball to his head or his feet, and you know he’s going to get the goals,” Ndiaye told Brit Brief.
City are crossing more under Maresca
Enzo Maresca, who returned to Manchester City in June and replaced Pep Guardiola, has built his attack around that strength. City are on course for 143 open-play crosses this season, up from fewer than 100 in each of the previous two campaigns. Only Brentford have attempted more so far.
The volume is giving Haaland the kind of service his heading can now punish. On 17 October he scored twice as City beat Ipswich Town 3-2 at the Etihad and became the fastest player in Premier League history to reach 100 non-penalty goals, in 139 matches.
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Brighton stands between him and a new personal best
Haaland has now scored in seven consecutive Premier League matches, equalling the longest run of his career in the competition. Manchester City host Brighton & Hove Albion at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, 31 October. A goal there and the record is his alone.
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