He was touching my bottom so I thought ‘let’s f****** have it’ – Erling Haaland explains reason for spat with Italy defender Gianluca Mancini

Erling Haaland claimed he was given added motivation to fire Norway to World Cup qualification by Italy defender Gianluca Mancini touching him on the bottom.

Haaland scored twice as Norway won 4-1 at San Siro to ensure they finished top of Group I with a perfect record after eight games.

The Manchester City star had a running battle with Mancini for most of the evening – at one point he had to be restrained by club team-mate Gianluigi Donnarumma – and eventually prevailed with a second half brace that gave Norway a memorable victory.

Thanks Gianluca!

Haaland thanked Mancini afterwards for providing him with extra incentive to finish off the Azzurri.

Speaking in the mixed zone, Haaland said: “I want to thank Mancini for motivating me. At 1-1, he started to touch me on the a***, and I thought ‘what are you doing?’. So I perked up a bit and said to him ‘thank you for the motivation, let’s f******g have it’.

“So I scored two goals, we win 4-1. Many thanks to him!”

Norway’s win means they have qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1998.

Haaland added: “It is probably the sickest result. That we come here and win 4-1 is absolutely sick, and it shows that we are a little more unpredictable.

“I am happy but I’m more relieved if I’m honest.There was a lot of pressure on us.”

Gattuso apologises for Italy display

Norway’s delight was in stark contrast to the desperation felt by Italy, who are now in danger of missing their third successive World Cup.

In reality, their hopes of qualifying automatically were already over before the game at San Siro. They had to win by nine goals, a tough ask for any side, never mind one that continues to flounder under Gennaro Gattuso.

Francesco Pio Esposito put the home side ahead but Antonio Nusa levelled in the 63rd minute before Haaland took centre stage with two quick goals to put the game beyond Italy. Jorgen Strand Larsen scored a late fourth to add gloss for Norway.

Gattuso now has to rally his troops ahead of the playoffs in March.

He told Rai: “We apologise to the fans for the four goals conceded, it’s a heavy result.

“It’s a shame because we had a very good first half, then a second half below par. And this is the greatest regret. Congratulations to Norway, but we start again from the first half, where we did what we were meant to do, then we struggled a lot after the break.”

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