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Former Southampton striker Rickie Lambert joked in response to Saints fans chanting that Manchester City frontman Erling Haaland is 'just a s**t' version of him. The Norweigan was on the losing side as City exited the Carabao Cup at St Mary's on Wednesday (January 11).
Haaland, 22, started the quarterfinal clash on the bench. However, he was thrown into the thick of the action in the 56th minute after Southampton had taken a shock two-goal lead.
The former Borussia Dortmund forward tried to impose himself on proceedings but failed to register a shot on goal. Southampton fans chanted at Haaland's expense during the second half:
"You're just a s**t Rickie Lambert."
The now-retired English striker responded brilliantly on his Instagram account. Captioning an image sent out by Paddy Power with the caption, he posted:
“He’s still got time to improve!”
Lambert's words were satirical, as the Norweigan has been a revelation since joining Manchester City from Dortmund in the summer for £54 million. He has scored an astounding 27 goals in just 23 games across competitions.
That's not to say that Lambert was not a menace for the likes of Southampton, Liverpool and Cardiff City during his career. He notched up 230 goals in 645 club appearances before the former England international retired in 2017.
Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand believes City are more potent with Haaland spearheading their attack
Haaland continues to dominate defences both in the Premier League and in Europe. He has scored the most goals by any player in Europe this season as he has enjoyed a remarkable start to life at the Etihad.
Next up for Manchester City is a short trip to Old Trafford to face cross-city rivals Manchester United on Saturday (January 14). The Red Devils will be fearful of Haaland, as he bagged a hat-trick in a 6-3 win earlier this season.
Ferdinand said that City pose more of a threat with the young striker at the forefront of their attack. He told BT Sport that Pep Guardiola's side put their tika taka style to one side to reap the benefits from their No. 9:
“Everyone was saying City haven’t got a Plan B, but Erling Haaland is the Plan A now. Put tika taka football on the side for a little bit."
He added:
"We saw at the weekend we saw the Foden goal – from back to front with about 20 passes. They can still do it, but they have more strings to their bow now, and it makes them a more difficult team to play against."
City are second in the Premier League after 17 games, trailing league leaders Arsenal (44) by five points. It's vital that they pick up a win against United in the Manchester derby on Saturday to keep up the pace.
