Sports
Erling Haaland is already a force of nature – and he’s getting better
“Normally, we don’t meet these kinds of teams,” Erling Haaland reflected on the third of his three goals on Saturday. “Normally, teams drop more, but West Ham needed a goal and the line was higher and I had space to go in behind.”
The thing is, it was Haaland who afforded Manchester City that extra option by scoring the two goals that obliged West Ham to change their approach in the first place.
For the first of them, he struck after City won the ball back high up the pitch, exposing a gaping hole as West Ham tried to play out from the back. “With space behind, he’s unstoppable,” said City manager Pep Guardiola. “There’s no central defender, not even with a gun… it’s impossible to stop him. He’s so fast, so powerful.”
For the second, City worked their way up the pitch patiently, as they usually have to do, and Haaland smashed in an emphatic finish — a half-chance, really — after a succession of intricate passes.
The moral of the story is that no matter what you try to do, when Haaland is at his very best — and his team-mates can find him — you are going to come unstuck; he added that third on the break after, as he said, West Ham pushed up looking for an equaliser.
Last weekend, after a varied hat-trick against Ipswich (a penalty, a ball in behind and a shot from outside the box), one of his City team-mates wrote on his match ball that he was getting sick of signing them for him. This time, one simply wrote, jokingly, ‘F*** off’.
Haaland has 11 hat-tricks for City now in barely two years since joining them and there will probably be more soon.
Haaland lobs goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski to score his third in City’s 3-1 win (Charlotte Wilson/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
“He’s playing much better,” Guardiola said at the London Stadium, leaving no room for doubt. “In everything.”
Guardiola had been asked if Haaland’s goals looked a bit “crisper” than the ones he scored last season and on another day, he might have pointed out how many the Norwegian actually did score last season — 38 in 45 appearances in all competitions (he won the Premier League Golden Boot, with 27, as he did in his 2022-23 debut year when he got 36) — but on this occasion, the City manager was happy to meet the truth head-on.
During the summer, Guardiola left breadcrumbs about some observations, possibly even some frustrations, about Haaland’s contributions that he did not feel the need to share during last season. And in the past two weeks, he has decided to open up even more.
“After the (2022-23) treble, he struggled to handle it, and maybe not too many holidays,” Guardiola said last weekend. “I remember at the beginning he said, ‘Still I’m tired, still I am a little bit drained’.”
And after subtly suggesting during the club’s pre-season tour in the United States that he wanted more from Haaland, he took the opportunity to explain exactly what that was. Typically, it was after Haaland had scored that hat-trick against Ipswich.
“We talked a little bit in the States. I didn’t like some things and he changed his mind,” Guardiola teased and when later asked what he did not like, he again chose the open and honest route.
“I like when he runs a lot. I like when he presses like an animal. I like it. It helps to score a goal. When you are connected defensively, you are connected offensively. When you are disconnected defensively and you run and the ball surprises you, you are not precise.
“This mix; to know exactly what to do and help us. His body language… imagine a central defender has the ball and he makes a sprint with this body and legs moving. It’s scary. And it helps us, for the people in the middle and back to support him, and we are more effective in our high pressing.
Guardiola congratulates Haaland after full-time at the London Stadium (Henry Nicholls/AFP via Getty Images)
“We need him. This is not negotiable. If you (Haaland) don’t score a goal, it’s fine, but you need to do it (the pressing). Especially when we link up with him, he has to control the ball better, but we are working with him on it. Hopefully he can do it.”
As much as the goals, all of that stuff was evident on Saturday evening. Haaland set up Rico Lewis for what should have been City’s third with a fine through ball and on one occasion raced back to prevent a West Ham counter-attack from a corner.
It was his best all-round performance in what feels like forever and if that feels harsh on somebody who, after all, still scored loads of goals last season, it always felt at the time like everything seemed that little bit harder in his second year of English football. With the benefit of hindsight, it certainly feels that way now.
“There are details,” Guardiola continued after the game. “He stays 20 minutes or half an hour after training sessions to work on finishing, close control, short passes. Last season, not even once was he there (doing that work) because he didn’t feel good; tired, niggles, most of the season.”
Haaland admitted after his goal in the opening league game against Chelsea two weeks ago that he could “stand and watch” while his team-mates bring the ball up the pitch, and that is OK because by just being there, he can take his markers into areas where they cannot get close to City’s other threats.
Issues can arise when City cannot find him for that one chance or, when they do, he misses it anyway, which is what happened quite a lot last season, certainly compared to his first one.
But the message from Guardiola is that City will keep finding him and Haaland looks ready to hold up his end of the bargain.
“What we need is the team to play better and better to give him more balls in the final third, and with Rico, Kevin (De Bruyne), (Ilkay) Gundogan, Bernardo (Silva), (James) McAtee, we’re going to create those situations because they’re really good in small spaces,” said the City manager.
Haaland has scored seven goals in his three games this season (Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
Interestingly, Guardiola has been trying to leverage another way of getting Haaland some relatively simple finishes: crosses to the back post. He started Savinho and Jeremy Doku on their strongest sides against Chelsea, with the aim of getting them to the byline to stand up the ball for Haaland to nod in, but the players took it upon themselves to switch sides after 15 minutes that day and they looked better for it.
In the opening exchanges at West Ham, City were clearly looking for those stood-up crosses, too, but when one found the intended target, Haaland headed it over the crossbar. But even the low crosses were often cut out.
“In small spaces, which happens quite often against us, we need players with good crosses, but we are still not so clever,” Guardiola continued. “For example, Jeremy arrived in the final third and we are not precise enough, like Jack (Grealish) sometimes, too, but in small spaces, when we improve in that department, he will have more chances and we know how clinical he is. Everybody knows it.”
Even so, the incredible statistics that seemed to accompany every Haaland performance in his debut season have suddenly come flooding back.
His eight Premier League hat-tricks have come in 69 games — it took Thierry Henry 258 matches to do the same.
Haaland has now scored more than once in 26 per cent of his league games for City — 10 doubles and those eight hat-tricks — which is the highest ratio of any player.
He began his Premier League career here in this stadium two years and three weeks ago with a pair against West Ham on his league debut, and with the hat-trick against Ipswich last weekend, he kept up his record of scoring against every team he has faced in the competition.
Going back where it all started and bagging another hat-trick: it looks like he is taking things up another level.
GO DEEPER
The Briefing: West Ham 1 Manchester City 3 – Another Haaland hat-trick but where is Walker?
(Top photo: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
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New details have emerged surrounding the arrest of former Georgia wide receiver Zachariah Branch, who is facing two misdemeanor charges following a run-in with law enforcement just days ahead of the NFL Draft.
Branch, who is a projected second-round pick, was arrested early Sunday morning in Athens, Georgia, and charged with two counts of obstructing public sidewalks/streets – prowling and obstruction of a law enforcement officer.
Georgia Bulldogs wide receiver Zachariah Branch celebrates after a touchdown catch against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Nov. 28, 2025. (Brett Davis/Imagn Images)
He was released after more than two hours in jail after posting $39 in bonds.
The NFL Network obtained the police report from Branch’s arrest, which described an encounter over an alleged sidewalk incident with law enforcement, in which police alleged that the former Bulldogs star failed “to comply with multiple verbal lawful commands.”
“A male, later identified as Zacharia Branch, continued to stand on the sidewalk without making an attempt to move. I continued to give Zacharia Branch verbal commands to move from blocking the sidewalk and advised that if he did not, he would receive a citation for blocking the sidewalk,” the excerpt from the report read.
Georgia wide receiver Zachariah Branch runs during the NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind., on Feb. 28, 2026. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
TOP NFL DRAFT PICK ZACHARIAH BRANCH ARRESTED IN GEORGIA ON TWO MISDEMEANOR CHARGES
“Zacharia Branch smirked, then stepped backwards and to the right, then remained standing upon the public sidewalk, so as to obstruct, hinder, and impede free passage upon the sidewalk as well as impede free ingress/egress to or from the adjacent places of business,” the report continued.
“Due to those actions and Zacharia Branch’s failure to comply with multiple verbal lawful commands, he was placed under arrest for misdemeanor Obstruction of LEO and received a citation for Obstructing Public Sidewalks.”
Georgia wide receiver Zachariah Branch celebrates with wide receiver Colbie Young after scoring a touchdown against Ole Miss during the Sugar Bowl at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, La., on Jan. 1, 2026. (IMAGN)
Branch transferred after two seasons at Southern California and immediately became quarterback Gunner Stockton’s favorite target. He finished the season with a team-high 811 receiving yards and six receiving touchdowns.
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His status as a projected second-round pick was bolstered after an impressive showing at the combine, where he clocked a 4.35-second 40-yard dash.
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For two-thirds of Sunday’s Long Beach Grand Prix, Alex Palou bided his time … waiting for the one break he needed.
It came in the form of a caution on the 58th lap, allowing him to overtake front-runner Felix Rosenqvist exiting pit lane and hold the lead the rest of the way, taking the checkered flag by 3.96 seconds for his third triumph in five IndyCar Series races this season and his first at Long Beach.
Right after being showered with applause and confetti at victory lane, the 29-year-old Spaniard thanked his crew, whose quick work on the last pit stop proved to be the difference.
“Everyone was coming in on that yellow and they did an incredible job,” he said. “We were either going to win it or not win right there.”
Rosenqvist settled for second and Scott Dixon, Palou’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, was third.
It was the 11th win over the last 22 races dating to 2024 for the Barcelona native and the 22nd win of his career, tying Tony Bettenhausen and Emerson Fittipaldi. It also vaulted Palou to the top of the series standings as he chases his fourth series championship in a row and fifth overall. Palou won the opener March 1 in St. Petersburg (also a street course) and the fourth race March 29 in Alabama.
Palou led for only 32 of the 90 laps Sunday and acknowledged it would have been difficult to catch Rosenqvist if not for the stoppage.
“I wasn’t giving up but it would’ve been tough to get him today,” Palou acknowledged. “He was already three seconds ahead. I was happy with my car but I was struggling more on the soft tires than the hards so I’d say my chances were low. The feeling was great seeing all the open space coming out of pit lane because when you spend 60 laps behind a car it disturbs you. I tried to match him on soft tires but it wasn’t working.”
Alex Palou speeds through a curve of the track.
(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)
In six starts at Long Beach, Palou never has finished lower than fifth.
There is little room to maneuver on the 1.968-mile course with 11 tight turns, but after starting in the third position next to defending champion Kyle Kirkwood, Palou managed to sneak past Pato O’Ward into second place heading into the first turn on Lap 2.
“Making that move on the straightaway was big because I knew it was one of our only chances to get a pass on Pato,” Palou said. “I got that good run on that last corner and he didn’t expect it.”
This year marked the 51st edition of the longest-running major street race in North America, which started in 1975 as part of the Formula 5000 Series, switched to the CART/Champ Car World Series in 1984 and joined the IndyCar Series in 2009.
The top four qualifiers started on softer, high-grip “alternate” tires to establish position while the rest of the grid started on harder, more durable “primaries” to manage degradation on the 110-degree track surface. Of the 25 starters, 24 completed the 177.12 miles.
“We were going to make the two-stop strategy work but didn’t know if it would be doable or not,” Palou added. “As soon as I saw I couldn’t get Felix it was all about patience, fuel and waiting for the right time. I owe this win to my team. Without that pit stop I probably wouldn’t be sitting here now. It only takes one mistake to go from second to seventh, but they’re great under pressure.”
Cars make their way down a straightaway during Long Beach Grand Prix.
(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)
Past winners Will Power and Josef Newgarden moved into the top two positions after Rosenqvist pitted, but the Swede regained the lead when Newgarden pitted for the first time on Lap 37 and dropped back to 14th.
The first 45 laps were caution-free as Rosenqvist, Palou, Kirkwood, David Malukas and O’Ward held the top five spots. Newgarden’s chances declined upon discovering a flat spot on his left front tire, and he dropped back to 14th.
Rosenqvist’s three-second lead was erased when debris on the track exiting the Aquarium Fountain drew the only yellow flag all afternoon and narrowed the gap. Capitalizing on favorable pit position, Palou emerged from the lane just ahead of Rosenqvist.
Rosenqvist. who won the pole position with a lap time of 1 minute 7.4625 seconds in qualifying, had mixed emotions as the runner-up after leading for 51 laps with no win to show for it.
“You want to win when you have an opportunity, but I’m proud of today,” Rosenqvist said.
“We weren’t as good as Alex on the blacks … the last pit cycle was the defining moment. We had to come around 14, he had more of an opening, and his crew nailed it. That happens.”
Kirkwood, who was vying for his third win in four years, finished right where he started in fourth.
“I had a good cushion and figured even with a bad stop I’d probably stay ahead but I knew there’d probably be a yellow at some point and there it came,” Rosenqvist lamented. “Considering Alex had primary [tires], also I think we would’ve been able to hold him off. It’s definitely disappointing when you can’t wrap it up.”
Dixon, who started in the sixth position, was third and earned his first podium this season and the 136th of his career.
Fans watch with two laps left in the race.
(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)
“The race itself was a bit blah — I sat in the same position for most of it,” Dixon said. “Luckily for us we had it easy out of that last stop.”
Al Unser Jr. holds the record for most wins at Long Beach, chalking up six in eight years, including an unmatched four in a row from 1988 to 1991.
Tom Sargent is becoming a fan of street circuits after two wins this weekend. Driving the Porsche 911 Cup for GMG Racing in the Mobil Pro Class, the 22-year-old Australian led from start to finish in Race 1 of the Carrera Cup North America on Saturday. In Race 2 on Sunday morning, he again started from the pole and claimed a 0.965-second victory over Aaron Jeansonne to complete the double.
In his last bid at Long Beach three years ago, he hit the wall on Lap 2 but still finished second.
“Momentum in sports is critical and the past few weeks have been really cool for me,” Sargent said. “I didn’t do any street circuit racing before I came to the States. Maybe it fits my driving style.”
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LAS VEGAS – Finn Balor and Dominik Mysterio were once brothers in arms in the Judgment Day. The two helped the faction run “Monday Night Raw” for several years.
As championships and opportunities came and went, the rift between Balor and Mysterio grew. It came to a head when Balor caused Mysterio to lose the Intercontinental Championship to Penta. Balor leaving the Judgment Day left Mysterio and Liv Morgan as the leaders with JD McDonagh, Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez sticking around.
Finn Balor is introduced before his match against Dominik Mysterio during WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 19, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
The latter four chose to ride with Mysterio and attacked Balor on one episode of Raw.
The bitter war led to a match Sunday night at WrestleMania 42. To make matters more interesting, Raw General Manager Adam Pearce made the match a street fight hours before the show was set to begin.
Balor had vowed to bring the “Demon” out and he certainly did.
JACOB FATU PUTS DREW MCINTYRE IN THE ‘REAR VIEW’ IN UNSANCTIONED MATCH AT WRESTLEMANIA 42
Finn Balor is introduced before his match against Dominik Mysterio during WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 19, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Balor made his way to the ring in his “Demon” gear, dripping with red and black paint. Mysterio was in a mask with other Mysterio supporters.
The two then proceeded to beat the crud out of each other.
Mysterio wrapped Balor’s head in between a chair and hit a 619 on him. He tried to pin Balor, but to no avail. At another point, Mysterio tossed Balor through a table set up in the corner.
As many have learned, it’s hard to keep your demons down. Mysterio learned the hard way.
Balor would not give up. Balor clotheslined Mysterio, hit him with a chair multiple times before wrapping his head in between the chair and drop-kicking him into the corner. Balor put Mysterio onto a table and hit the Coup de Grâce for the win.
Dominik Mysterio is introduced before his match against Finn Balor during WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 19, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
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Balor excised his own demons, while Mysterio is still haunted.
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