Erling Haaland showed no mercy as he broke his silence on a viral chant sung by Marc Cucurella after he played a crucial role in Spain’s Euro 2024 triumph this summer. The Manchester City superstar’s name is mentioned in the chant, but he did his talking on the Stamford Bridge pitch at the start of the Premier League campaign.
Haaland opened the scoring for the visitors in the first half before Mateo Kovacic’s long-range strike confirmed the victory in the latter stages.
In the 18th minute, the 24-year-old received the ball inside the box before using his power to drive towards goal, shrugging off Cucurella’s pressure and dinking an elegant finish over Robert Sanchez.
Viewers were eagerly anticipating the pair’s encounter after the Chelsea defender aimed fire at Haaland during his Euro 2024 celebrations.
Spain beat England 2-1 in the Berlin final to lift a record fourth European Championship in July, with Cucurella setting up Mikel Oyarzabal’s late winner.
The 26-year-old – named in the Team of the Tournament – was enjoying himself on a stage in Madrid as the Spanish players basked in their glory with home supporters.
And after inheriting the microphone, he sang along to a popular chant that has since gone viral for fuelling the rage among heartbroken English fans.
The main lyrics read: “Cucurella eats paella, Cucurella drinks Estrella, Haaland trembles that Cucurella is coming.”
But after getting the better of Cucurella for his first goal of the season, Haaland was later caught on camera ignoring the Spaniard’s cries for help as he picked up an injury in the 80th minute.
The City frontman walked past his opponent before Chelsea teammates Enzo Fernandez and Pedro Neto arrived on the scene to ease what looked like a cramp.
After full-time at Stamford Bridge, Haaland stuck another knife into Cucurella, claiming he had previously asked for his shirt before disrespecting him with his chant.
He told Viaplay: “Well, Cucurella is a funny man. Last season he asked for my shirt… and this summer he sings a song about me.”
Haaland was delighted with how he took his goal – undoubtedly the first of many as City pursue an unprecedented fifth successive Premier League title.
“I don’t know if you remember last year, Sanchez had a great save on me because he always stays a lot on the line, that’s why I took a few extra touches,” Haaland told Sky Sports.
“Then he’s rushing out and I knew exactly what to do. I think it was a really good goal.
“I remember his save for the last year, it’s been irritating me for a long time. So that’s why I took a couple of extra touches. It was a perfect goal. It was a nice goal.”