Erling Haaland scored twice for Manchester City in their Champions League defeat to Paris Saint-Germain but went against a rule Enzo Maresca has applied to his captains for the past three years. With Ruben Dias substituted at half-time, Haaland took the armband for the second half with his side 3-0 down.
Haaland's brace and PSG's win
Iliman Ndiaye and Ayyoub Bouaddi were among those introduced at the break, and City quickly reduced the deficit. Ndiaye's whipped cross was headed in by Haaland before Bouaddi pulled a pass back into his path, allowing Haaland to sweep home his second.
Between those strikes, a calamitous error from Gianluigi Donnarumma gave PSG breathing room. City pushed for a third, with Haaland and Enzo Fernandez both hitting the frame of the goal, but PSG held firm and ran out 4-2 winners.
Maresca's captaincy rule
The chaotic second half saw tactics seemingly abandoned, and one of Maresca's long-standing rules was not followed by Haaland. Speaking in pre-season about the possibility of Haaland being captain, Maresca said: "At Leicester and Chelsea, I had a rule that when we scored, the captain had to come to the bench for instructions and not celebrate."
"But if he scores, then he can celebrate. If Erling is the captain, f------ hell -- we have a problem, can you imagine? I think even if it is two or three minutes, there is always something to adjust."
"At the moment, we have three or four [captains] and we are missing one [Rodri is recovering from back surgery]. In the case of Rodri, see what happens."
Celebration and context
Instead of heading to the touchline after his glancing header, Haaland fist-bumped the air and exchanged words with Josko Gvardiol while returning to the halfway line. With City trailing by three goals before his strike, Maresca's rule may have been rendered irrelevant, as the Italian walked slowly around his technical area, arms crossed. Following his second goal, Haaland merely jogged back to the halfway line.
While not explicitly stated, Maresca almost certainly intended the rule to apply mostly when City score the opening goal or extend their lead, with such celebrations typically lasting longer than Haaland's two against PSG. Alongside the 60,000 supporters, Pep Guardiola was present, with the former City manager flying in from Barcelona to show support following the club's guilty verdict concerning 114 financial charges. City have lodged an appeal against the independent panel's conclusions and maintain their innocence.
