Pep Guardiola repeats key message to Erling Haaland after 100th Premier League goal for Man City

CRAVEN COTTAGE, LONDON — Before Pep Guardiola headed into his post-match press conference on Tuesday night — where he played to the gallery, joking that Manchester City's breathlessly chaotic 5-4 win at Fulham made him lose his hair — he was engaged in a hasty debrief with director of football Hugo Viana.

Ever animated and tactile, Guardiola hugged Viana before going into some of his usual gesticulations, patting the former Newcastle United midfielder on the stomach a couple of times.

There was certainly a lot to unpack.

City were cruising to a statement win when Sander Berge diverted Jeremy Doku's cross into his own net to make it 5-1 early in the second half. Phil Foden backed up his double against Leeds United with another excellent brace and Erling Haaland had become the fastest player in history to 100 Premier League goals.

Then, on the banks of the River Thames, City suddenly found themselves drowning amid choppy waters. Alex Iwobi dispatched a crisp 25-yard effort before the hour and substitute Samuel Chukwueze crashed home a couple of his own when the visitors failed to effectively clear balls into their box.

MORE: Highlights and stats from Man City's nine-goal game with Fulham

Everything Fulham touched turned to gold. Their four goals — also including Emile Smith Rowe's wonderfully deft header in first-half stoppage time — came amid an xG of just 0.9 over the 90 minutes. Deep into injury time, Josko Gvardiol hacked Josh King's effort off the goal line to deny Marco Silva's team one of the all-time great Premier League comebacks.

"It's a chaos game. I think a great game to watch from the stands and on TV, but we all know that letting in four goals is not good enough," a still faintly baffled Haaland told reporters afterwards, laughing along when it was suggested his landmark goal felt like it had arrived about six months ago, given all that came after.

"This period right now is about getting the points, getting three points here and there because it's a tough period. Look at the schedule, it's incredible — so many games, even in the cups, the Champions League, the Premier League. 

"In the end, you need to win games and be consistent and try to be there. If you're there, you never know what's going to happen for sure. The league is not finished by Christmas, but you need to be there."

It's a time of year when the cold, hard currency of results counts for far more than artistic impression, something Guardiola knows more than most. There was also a post-match chat from the manager for Haaland under the light of the giant Christmas tree outside the Craven Cottage dressing rooms. The message was clear: no let-up from a player who has never been more important to his team's cause. 

Haaland's three appearances without a goal before Fulham felt like a huge drought given what had come before. Following a poor individual showing in last weekend's win over Leeds, he's now back in business with 20 goals in 19 matches across all competitions for City in 2025/26.

"He [reminded me of] a chat yesterday after training, that I need to do everything I can to stay sharp, to stay fit," the 25-year-old said. "That's what I've been doing. He knows I take care of my body. I need to be ready every single game because I need to do my job, I need to be focused and I need to get my body in shape. Now I need to go and get some treatments."

Haaland's gargantuan scoring feats — his 100 Premier League goals in 111 appearances is 13 matches faster than any other player — are so vital to City because they lack many of the old certainties of the Guardiola era.

Fastest players to 100 Premier League goals

It would have been inconceivable for any of the Catalan's four-in-a-row title-winning teams between 2020/21 and 2023/24 to have gone so far off the rails from the position of strength they had at Fulham. Guardiola noted his problems in holding midfield are affecting the team's capacity to control matches. Rodri and Mateo Kovacic remain sidelined and an exhausted Nico Gonzalez was substituted with the score at 5-2 in west London. John Stones, Nico O'Reilly and Bernardo Silva all mucked in at the base of the midfield as the visitors escaped with the points.

Haaland also identified a wider issue that is beyond City's control: the overall quality of the Premier League. Tuesday's victory moved the 10-time champions to within two points of Arsenal. Then a span of five points covers everyone from Chelsea in third, all the way down to Bournemouth in 14th. The old adage that "anyone can beat anyone" in England's top tier has often felt like self-congratulatory Best League In The World brand management, but it's rarely seemed as true as it does now.

Unstoppable.

A 100th @premierleague goal for @ErlingHaaland 💯 pic.twitter.com/6VybdqkNB4

— Manchester City (@ManCity) December 3, 2025

"The teams are so good," Haaland said. "Fulham are a really good team. People come here and struggle a lot. Look at Arsenal. They come and struggle, but they win. United… there are many teams who come here and struggle. 

"The average in the Premier League is incredible. When you look at all the teams, how good everyone is, it's incredible. Fulham are a tough team and when we stopped playing in the second half, it became difficult. They got momentum, they scored goals and we stopped playing. We need to keep playing, we need to keep the ball. That's what we need to do."

And Haaland needs to keep scoring. Of all the things Guardiola was chewing over after a remarkable game, that's probably the thing he needs to worry about the least.