Alexander Isak wrote his name in the history books to be the one that knocked out defending European Treble winners Manchester City out of the 2023/24 Carabao Cup. The Swedish forward scored the vital winner and not only won over the fans’ love but also that of an opposition goal machine in Erling Haaland.
Isak has had a pretty solid start to the season, scoring four goals already in just seven appearances. After being benched in their win over Sheffield United, Isak has scored two goals in as many games and tormented the Man City backline in the Carabao Cup clash.
The Swedish striker ended up being the match-winner for the Magpies, ensuring that City cannot win the Carabao Campaign for the second successive campaign now. Isak was, obviously, named as the Player of the Match for his heroics and earned major praise for his clinical effort against the defending European champions.
It also appeared that the Swedish forward didn’t just earn the fans’ praise with the goal, but also that of the Cityzens’ own striker in Erling Haaland. The Norwegian forward was given a rest for that game, being an unused substitute as Pep Guardiola aims to keep him safe from suffering potential injuries or fatigue.
Haaland was made to watch the game from the dugout and actually seemed to be mighty impressed from what he saw from the opponent forward. After full-time, the Norwegian forward appeared to have approached the match winner immediately before sharing a little chat with him.
The two appear to have a lot of mutual respect for one another and soon after praising his effort, Haaland had a little talk with him before cheekily asking the Swedish striker for his jersey. Isak looked to be a little bit taken aback by that too, before he decided to take off his match-worn jersey and give it to the Manchester City man as a possible souvenir. Even though he didn’t play in the game, the Norwegian forward also gave his opposition forward a Manchester City kit in return in an unofficial ‘shirt swap’.
If not anything else, then this is a great example of how down-to-earth and relatable Haaland is in real life. It also shows the kind of mutual respect players at this kind of level like the Premier League have for each other to appreciate the efforts even when their own team is on the losing end.
Newcastle United fans, clearly, have been delighted by seeing their striker getting praise from football’s best striker right now. It shows that Isak definitely has the quality of being regarded as one of the best forwards in England right now and is highly respected around the league as well.
It remains to be seen if his thrilling display against Man City can vitalize the Swedish striker into enjoying a 25-30+ goal season with the Magpies – but he already appears to have the Erling Haaland stamp of approval over his ability.
