Erling Haaland 'blames Martin Odegaard' for freak injury suffered on international duty

Manchester City star left with a bloodied lip after a mishap with the Norway team bus

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Erling Haaland has joked that Martin Odegaard is responsible for the three stitches on his face while the pair are together on international duty with Norway .

The Manchester City striker scored the only goal of the match as Norway beat Finland on Thursday and the squad are now preparing to take on Moldova in their latest World Cup qualifier.

Haaland will do so with a cut just below his lip after a freak accident, which he took to social media to make fun of.

The 25-year-old got off the team bus at a hotel in Oslo and stood too close to the trunk door. That swung open and hit Haaland in the mouth, and he was left needing stitches.

Haaland posted a picture of the cut on Snapchat and said: "Just got banged out by a bus door. Three stitches."

After asking for "wrong answers only" when quizzed on how it had happened, one fan joked that Odegaard had been responsible. Haaland responded: "Correct."

Norway are attempting to reach the World Cup for the first time since 1998. It would be their first appearance at a major tournament for 26 years.

They are in good shape to do so, sitting top of Group I with a perfect record from their opening four qualifiers.

That included a statement 3-0 win over Italy in June and Norway will be confident of extending their control of the group on Tuesday when they face Moldova, who have lost all four of their qualifiers.

Haaland has scored four goals in the qualifying campaign so far, bettered only across Europe by Memphis Depay and Andrej Kramaric with five.