Erling Haaland needs to "play with passion" against defenders who attempt to unsettle him, according to Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola.
Haaland scored his 21st Premier League goal since arriving from Borussia Dortmund during the 1-1 draw with Everton on Saturday.
But images emerged after the game of the Norway international arguing with Toffees centre-back Ben Godfrey, while James Tarkowski and Conor Coady were also involved in confrontations with the striker.
Guardiola was pleased with how the 22-year-old Haaland handled himself against three experienced Premier League defenders trying to wind him up, although he stressed he had to draw a line somewhere.
"I like it," Guardiola told reporters ahead of City's league visit to Chelsea on Thursday. "He just needs to limit his behaviour, not him [but] everyone.
"The decisions, you have to use here [points to head] but play with this passion. It is necessary. I prefer that than to be flat.
"Strikers have to handle tough central defenders. Tomorrow he'll have a battle with [Kalidou] Koulibaly, Thiago Silva. That's why the Premier League is so special."
Haaland has taken the Premier League by storm since joining City in June, becoming the fastest player to score 20 goals in the competition, doing so in just 14 games, seven fewer than previous record-holder Kevin Phillips.
However, Guardiola feels Haaland can become even better, saying: "A lot of things he has to improve.
"As much as he continues scoring goals, he still has margin to improve on many things. Of course, he's young, and he'll be better in the future."
Guardiola left it until the 87th minute against Everton before making a change, with substitutes Ilkay Gundogan, Phil Foden and returning World Cup winner Julian Alvarez unable to steal three points late on.
Asked whether this was an error looking back, Guardiola replied: "Yes, definitely. What was the result? Yeah, a mistake.
"But even with substitutions 15 minutes earlier, maybe we would've lost. Maybe I should've done it earlier, but in that moment I took a decision."
Arsenal took advantage of City's draw with Everton by beating Brighton and Hove Albion to extend their lead at the Premier League summit to seven points, although a goalless draw at home to Newcastle United on Tuesday means Guardiola's men can close the gap to five points with victory at Stamford Bridge.
The Gunners may have missed the opportunity to momentarily open a 10-point gap, but Guardiola was still impressed with their performance – albeit he is also pleased with how his team have played since returning from the World Cup.
"The way they [Arsenal] played yesterday impressed me a lot," Guardiola added. "They dropped two points, but not in the quality they played.
"The way we played the last games, the feeling is good. My target always as a manager is try to do better than the opposition. First of all, be yourself, [but] if it doesn't happen, it's football.
"What I want to see is we still want to fight. We don't give up, until the last chance we can fight and win the Premier League."
Wilder lauds 'best' point of season after surviving 'massive' West Brom test
Chris Wilder lauded Sheffield United's "best" point of the season after overcoming a "massive test" for a draw at West Brom that sent them back to the Championship summit.
Tom Fellows' equaliser for the hosts just after the hour sealed a share of the spoils at the Hawthorns, with the Baggies having now drawn 10 of their last 11 league games.
The 2-2 draw sent the Blades a point clear at the top of the Championship, moving past second-placed Leeds United after their 2-0 win over Derby County on Saturday.
Though United dropped points after being 2-1 up, Wilder lauded his side's resilience in difficult conditions against last season's play-off challengers.
"We were up against a really good team. We knew this was a massive test for us, and we showed great character to overturn a lead the way we did," Wilder said.
"So I'm delighted with that. As far as I'm concerned, that's our best, hardest-earned point of the season. It was so important we got something.
"We could easily have decided it wasn't going to be our day. Let's get back on the bus and get home and get in front of the fire. But they didn't.
"It was tough out there. But this side is learning on the job. We had six 22-year-olds on the park at one stage playing against men, in men's conditions.
"But they fought back and got a result."
West Brom took the lead in the 24th minute through Torbjorn Heggem, with the Norwegian heading home from Alex Mowatt's inswinging corner.
However, two strikes in as many minutes from Callum O'Hare and Tyrese Campbell put the visitors in front at the break, with full-back Harrison Burrows playing a huge role in both goals.
West Brom responded after the interval when Fellows' attempted cross from the right corner of the area deflected wickedly into the ground off Gustavo Hamer, with the ball looping out of Michael Cooper's reach.
In a topsy-turvy match, the Blades edged the match statistics, producing an expected goals (xG) total of 1.05 from their 12 shots to West Brom's 0.73 from their 11 efforts.
Alonso lauds Leverkusen's 'fight' in St. Pauli triumph
Xabi Alonso lauded Bayer Leverkusen's fight in their 2-1 win over St. Pauli on Saturday, earning the champions a third-straight Bundesliga triumph.
Alonso's side struck twice in the first half through Florian Wirtz and Jonathan Tah, with Morgan Guilavogui reducing the deficit in the 84th minute for St. Pauli.
Leverkusen improved their record against newly-promoted sides in the Bundesliga, having lost just one of their last 21 games against them (W16 D4).
But the reigning champions were made to work for their win, registering an expected goals (xG) total of 0.88 from their six shots compared to St. Pauli's 1.82 from their 12 efforts.
"Yes, we didn't discuss for today, but after Kiel, for example, what we can do better," Alonso told reporters following Saturday's victory.
"How to play with more intelligence in those minutes. Today wasn't spectacular, but we were more efficient and playing with more intelligence from minute one.
"When you play every three days, it's not easy to defend everything all the time. I have to praise my team for finishing today's game with a win.
"But that is what we need to realise about the situation that we are in. To fight for results and to fight for points. Yes, the first half was good, and the second half was okay."
The victory moved Leverkusen up to third in the Bundesliga, seven points behind leaders Bayern Munich, who beat Heidenheim 4-2 on Saturday.
But their attention will turn swiftly to the Champions League, with Inter the visitors to the BayArena on Tuesday.
Alonso's side find themselves sixth in the new 36-team standings in the competition after five games, taking 10 points from those games and scoring 11 times.
Super-sub Musiala thrilled to end Bundesliga drought on home soil
Jamal Musiala felt "good to celebrate with the Bayern Munich fans" after netting his first Bundesliga home goals of the season in the 4-2 win over Heidenheim.
The Germany international climbed off the bench to score twice at the Allianz Arena, where he had not found the net in the German top flight since an 8-1 rout of Mainz in March.
Musiala's 11th Bundesliga appearance of the season was his first as a non-starter.
However, he said the breather was welcome and made him feel rejuvenated upon entering the contest, before taking his goal tally for the campaign to 12 in all competitions.
"Recently, I've played a lot of games in a row," he said. "That's why it was good that I got a break and came back energised.
"I've finally scored here in the [Allianz] Arena again. It feels good to celebrate with the fans."
Good morning #FCBayern Fans!
of the log and unbeaten in the #Bundesliga. pic.twitter.com/Ah7XbvVMFV
Vincent Kompany's side got back to winning ways following their 1-0 defeat by Bayer Leverkusen in the DFB Pokal on Tuesday, in which Manuel Neuer was sent off early on.
And the Bayern boss was pleased by the response of his players.
"We started this week with a tough schedule, played 70 minutes with 10 players against Leverkusen, so it was always a dangerous game for many reasons," he told reporters during his post-match press conference.
"The first half was very good, possession was fluid. The second half - although we stayed calm when we conceded - the last 15 to 20 minutes, the feeling for Heidenheim is totally justified that they are still in the game.
"Still, we created a lot of chances. It was a tough week. We scored four goals. It was still a very, very good day."
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