Riyad Mahrez cools suggestion that Manchester City are dependant on Erling Haaland for goals

During Manchester City’s 4-0 win against Southampton, it seemed as though Erling Haaland was set not to get on the scoresheet for the longest time.

After Phil Foden played what was perhaps the pass of the match in the first 45 minutes, the Norwegian striker struck the inside of the post after finding himself in acres of space - the closest he had got to scoring a goal at that point in the match.

As the game wore on, Erling Haaland tried to drop into deeper areas and get on the ball to conjure a goal out of nothing.

However, Southampton continued to find a way to keep the prolific marksman quiet with their last-ditch defending and series of well-timed challenges.

Later on in the contest, Kevin De Bruyne got on the end of a clever Phil Foden pass to set up the opportunity to tap the ball home for the former Borussia Dortmund striker.

However, the ball somehow escaped Haaland, as it looked as though it was just not his day.

Being the relentless goalscorer he is, the 22-year-old eventually latched on to a pinpoint cutback from Joao Cancelo to increase the hosts’ lead to 4-0.

Alamy)

With a staggering 20 goals to his name in all competitions so far this season, the former RB Salzburg number nine has now scored in ten consecutive games for the Premier League champions.

Riyad Mahrez, who also got on the scoresheet against Ralph Hasenhüttl’s men, discussed Erling Haaland in the aftermath of the contest.

“Haaland is part of our team, he is our striker," he said.

“Like any other striker, if we can find him it's perfect because he is on fire."

He continued, "If not, there are a lot of players and everyone can make a difference.

"We have to keep going with the momentum.”

Mahrez scores for Manchester City (Sportimage / Alamy)

While the Leeds-born forward did what he does best by scoring his 15th goal in the Premier League, this was perhaps a quiet evening of work for the most devastating striker in world football.

For once, other high-profile names in the Manchester City squad took charge, as Joao Cancelo was recognised as the Man of the Match while Phil Foden shone with a goal and assist at the Etihad Stadium.

Joao Cancelo opens the scoring for City (Sportimage / Alamy)

As Riyad Mahrez stated, while the presence of an in-form Erling Haaland is a bonus, Manchester City have plenty of gamechangers within their ranks even if he takes time to get into proceedings.