John Stones has admitted Manchester City were far from their best against Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday.
Jude Bellingham put Dortmund ahead before Stones and Haaland won the game for City.
Speaking after the game, Stones told BT Sport: "I've been trying to take up those positions.
"The manager wants us in those areas for things like that, to control the counter attack, in good positions for balls coming outside box, picking up pieces. It's one of those things. I was getting a few shouts and decided to pull the trigger."
Asked about the win, he added:: "It was difficult. We weren't at our best tonight.
"In the first half we made it difficult and didn't play at the tempo we should have.
"We didn't use the ball well, we made sloppy passes. At half-time we had stern words between each other."