Maresca hails Haaland's 'instinctive winning' Champions League strike

Haaland needed just 13 touches to make his mark, producing a typical poacher's finish at the back post after excellent work from Elliot Anderson to score the decisive goal.

Maresca stressed that the Norwegian must remain mentally switched on throughout a match, even when he is not heavily involved in the action.

"I said yesterday that it's always important that Erling is inside the game," Maresca said. "We know that any moment he can help us and he can score goals."

The City manager was also pleased that other players contributed to the scoring, although he felt his team should have made more of their opportunities.

"Tonight also we scored more goals with different players, so we created so many chances that unfortunately we missed," he added. "I'm very happy he scored. Happy for him. It's always a nice feeling to win and to be the captain."

Despite securing three points, Maresca agreed with Haaland's assessment that City still have considerable room for improvement, particularly defensively.

"Absolutely, no doubt. That's why I'm so happy, so confident because I can see that we can do much better," he said.

Maresca believes the team need more time to develop an understanding, having only started working together four months ago. He was particularly unhappy with the manner in which City conceded Leipzig's two goals, describing them as avoidable.

"We need to avoid conceding silly goals. We need to understand, analyse and review things," he explained, adding that he was still getting to know his players and they were also adapting to his methods.

Nevertheless, Maresca was delighted with the result, recognising the difficulty of winning away in Germany in the Champions League. City now turn their attention to the Premier League, with Nottingham Forest next at The City Ground on Saturday.