Erling Haaland explains argument with Pep Guardiola at halftime of win over Burnley to open Man City season

Pep Guardiola has won five of the last six Premier League titles and led Manchester City to a famous treble last season.

Nobody achieves that kind of dominant success at the top of professional athletics without dedication to the craft, and Guardiola is a perfectionist of the highest order.

That was never more evident than at halftime of Man City's eventual 3-0 win over Burnley to open the 2023/24 Premier League season. Erling Haaland may have scored a brace in the opening 45 minutes, but he still caught Guardiola's ire as the teams went in to the halftime break.

After the 90 minutes were concluded and the three points secured, Haaland explained why he was at the wrong end of Guardiola's anger despite his prolific performance.

MORE: Full recap of Man City's 3-0 win over Burnley including highlights, commentary, and more

Why was Pep Guardiola mad at Erling Haaland at halftime vs Burnley?

There was an eye-catching moment at halftime of the opening match of the Premier League season that left fans wondering what Pep Guardiola could possibly be upset about.

Despite Erling Haaland's first-half brace that gave Man City a 2-0 halftime lead, Guardiola was seen chastising Haaland as the teams headed into the locker rooms. It was further notable that Guardiola noticed the camera beside him and frustratingly shoved it aside so he could continue the conversation in as much privacy as possible.

Pep Guardiola pushed the cameras away after having a heated conversation with Erling Haaland with Man City up 2-0 at the half 😮 pic.twitter.com/HgRa7w3f9n

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) August 11, 2023

Fans were curious what Guardiola might be angry about, considering his talisman had been a major reason why City were leading at the break.

After the match, Haaland explained to U.S. broadcast partner NBC Sports that it was his demeanor, not his on-field play, that led Guardiola to give him the business. Haaland explained that he had been frustrated with Bernardo Silva for not playing him the ball towards the end of the half, but Guardiola was not happy with the exchange.

"I was a bit mad on Bernardo Silva because he didn't play me the ball, but then he [Guardiola] explained why he didn't," Haaland said after the match. "And I agree with him. It's passion. It's good. He's direct and honest. I like that.

"Look at Pep. How many trophies has he been winning the last years? And last year with the treble? And the first game of the season at halftime we're leading 2-0 and he's doing this to me. To be honest, I love it."

Guardiola confirmed the story, telling Sky Sports, "He wants all the time ball to him, ball to him. He's man-to-man, he scores one-to-one, give me the ball away and I'm going to do it. But when you have two or three minutes left and Kovacic goes in behind and loses the ball, and Rodri loses the ball, Erling wanted that ball but Bernardo was right not to give it to him.

"It's a connection to do what you have to do, but it's not truly any problem at all, he scored two goals and I'm sure he's happy."

Premier League 2023/24 TV channels, live streams

UK: Matches are carried across Sky Sports and TNT Sports streaming and TV platforms, with select matches on Amazon Prime.

USA: Select matches are televised on USA Network (English) and Telemundo or Universo (Spanish), and all three channels can be streamed on Fubo. The rest of the matches are streamed on NBC platform Peacock for subscribers.

Canada: Every Premier League game this season is live streamed exclusively via Fubo in Canada.

Australia: Fans in Australia can stream every match live and on demand on Optus Sport.

India: Star Sports network has the rights to show Premier League matches in India. As well as an English broadcast on Star Sports Select, select matches will be available via regional feeds on Star Sports 3 (in Bengali, English, Kannada, Malayalam), Star Sports 1 (Bangla) and Star Sports 1 (Tamil).