Erling Haaland response to Sporting thrashing sums up Man City star after struggles

Erling Haaland has vowed to "work even harder and come back fighting" after recent struggles.

City were in the on Tuesday, with missing a penalty at 2-1 after blasting the ball against the bar. The result means that City have now for the first time since April 2018, having also suffered defeats to and in recent weeks.

And Haaland has not been at his prolific best, with the striker netting just one goal in his last five games after scoring ten goals in his first five. In a post on social media, Haaland acknowledged both his and the team's recent struggles.

"Only one way to move on from last night - work even harder and come back fighting from this," he wrote in relation to the defeat against Sporting. It comes after fellow City star Bernardo Silva admitted they were "in a dark place".

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Speaking to TNT Sports after the Sporting game, Silva said: "It's disappointing because we're a bit in a dark place right now. Everything looks to be going in the wrong way. Even when we are playing well we don't score our chances and we concede too easily.

"We definitely need to look inside and check what we're not doing well. And we need to get better very quickly otherwise it will be very difficult to come back from these losses. It's football. It's difficult to find reasons for what is happening to us.

"I don't remember in seven-and-a-half seasons this team losing three games in a row. It just looks like this team is going the wrong way now. The good thing is even though we have lost these three games we are still in a good position especially in the Premier League.

"After losing three games we are still in the main competitions fighting for everything. But we need to better, obviously. Our injured players need to come back because we need them and it's just not good enough tonight."

However, manager , insisting his side played "really good football" in Portugal. "We played really bad against Bournemouth but really good here. The only regret is conceding the third and fourth - the penalties were not necessary," he said.

"We knew it would be a tough season at the start and this is what it is. I like it, I love it, I want to face it and lift my players. Life is like this. We continue. What should we do? We go back to Manchester and prepare for the game at . I won't give up, that's for sure."

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