Man City star Erling Haaland convinced fans that he 'malfunctioned' after thinking Joel Ward was his teammate

Fans think Erling Haaland hilariously “malfunctioned” due to his exchange with Joel Ward after Manchester City’s hard-fought victory against Crystal Palace on Saturday.

City broke down a resilient Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in the second half to secure all three points and maintain pressure on league leaders Arsenal.

The defending Premier League champions were awarded a penalty late in the second half after Palace player Michael Olise’s clumsy challenge on City star Ilkay Gundogan.

Haaland stepped up for the penalty and sent Vicente Guaita the wrong way after expertly dispatching the ball into the bottom corner of the Palace net.

The 22-year-old Norwegian striker has been in scintillating form for City since his stunning £51m transfer from Borussia Dortmund last summer.

Haaland has taken his impressive Premier League goalscoring tally to 27 in 25 appearances, with the City star the runaway favourite to win the Golden Boot.

Following City’s important win over Palace, footage emerged of an emphatic Haaland celebrating with his teammates Jack Grealish, Julian Alvarez and Gundogan.

However, fans were left in stitches after Haaland appeared to celebrate the win with Palace defender Ward like he was his own City teammate.

One fan said: “He malfunctioned for a second.”

“He’s actually an NPC, it’s so funny,” another tweeted.

Someone else wrote: “His love of City and his mates may be unrivalled.”

A fourth Twitter user posted: “Robot malfunctioned.”

And a fifth commented: “Someone should update the antivirus.”

Speaking after their win, City boss Pep Guardiola insisted his side are still in the Premier League title race, despite Arsenal’s “incredible run” this season.

“Of course, Arsenal [are] on an incredible run. Still, we are there,” he told Sky Sports.

“Here in the typical winter game, a difficult one, we were there all the time and then we won it.

“Now we have to do absolutely everything and next Tuesday and Saturday.

“Hopefully, the Etihad can live one of the best nights we have lived and we can do it again.”

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