Haaland branded 'shocking' and 'not interested' as Norway fall to Wales days after City verdict

Erling Haaland endured a miserable evening at Cardiff City Stadium on Thursday, failing to score and drawing sharp criticism from pundits as Norway fell 2-1 to Wales in the Nations League — his first appearance since Manchester City were found guilty of breaching Premier League financial regulations.

Former Cardiff and Celtic midfielder Joe Ledley delivered a blunt verdict on the 26-year-old’s display, telling the BBC: “I thought he was shocking. He didn’t offer anything for Norway and I was watching him all game. His movement wasn’t there, he wasn’t coming short, his touches… he had 11 in the first half.”

Haaland arrived in Cardiff in strong club form, having netted seven goals in his previous five matches for City. Wales, without a win in six games and fielding five Championship players, might have seemed like a favourable backdrop for him to keep that run going. Instead, he squandered two gilt-edged chances — a header struck straight at goalkeeper Danny Ward and another that cleared the bar — and spent much of the match locked in physical duels with Tottenham’s Ben Davies and Swansea’s Ben Cabango.

“He can leap, is physically strong, he’s quick as well,” Ledley continued. “Wales were so high, I was expecting him to run in behind, but he wasn’t interested at all.”

Ex-Nottingham Forest and Wales forward Robert Earnshaw echoed those observations while crediting the Welsh defensive effort. “Haaland was quiet because the moments he could have scored — at the far post, a headed goal — we were right there. When you’re defending against him it’s about the first contact. I thought it was great defending. The other side of it is that he relies on people to create and we were able to stop the ball coming in early.”

Oscar Bobb had given Stale Solbakken’s Norway the lead, but Wales hit back through Leeds winger Dan James before Nottingham Forest’s Neco Williams completed the turnaround in the second half.

Haaland’s difficult night came less than 48 hours after the Premier League confirmed that Manchester City had been found guilty of all charges relating to breaches of its financial regulations between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons.