Erling Haaland has made an impression at Manchester City, with back-to-back premier League hattricks in a span of just 4 days!
Haaland’s first-half hat-trick in City’s 6-0 thrashing of Nottingham Forest followed his second-half three-pointer in City’s comeback win over Crystal Palace four days earlier.
The 22-year-old is the first player in Premier League history to score nine goals in his first five games.
He is the first player in August to score nine goals, and he is providing valuable cover for fellow City newcomer Julian Alvarez, who made his full debut with a second-half double.
“He’s brilliant. He’s got the lot,” said Forest manager Steve Cooper.
“Man City have the best striker in the world right now,” former striker Dion Dublin told BBC Radio 5 Live. “If he stays in the Premier League, every record will be broken.”
The Norwegian is only the seventh player in Premier League history to score a hat-trick in two consecutive games. Harry Kane of Tottenham Hotspur is the only player to have done so more than once.
Surprisingly, Haaland has now scored more Premier League goals in August than Kane, who has seven in his career.
Haaland joins Raheem Sterling and Carlos Tevez as City players with multiple hat-tricks. Only Sergio Aguero has more.
Manager Pep Guardiola believes Haaland will never be the same central figure in City’s history as Aguero.
However, the Spaniard believes the forward possesses the same level of talent, and he believes personal achievements will be meaningless to the City number nine if they do not contribute to the team’s success.
“Sergio is the legend,” Guardiola said. “Nobody can break the position in the hearts of City fans, scoring the most important goal in the modern history.
“But Erling has the quality to be there. What he has done in Norway, Austria and Germany he tries to do here. Knowing him a little bit, I don’t know if he’d be happy breaking records if we didn’t win titles.”
Former Wales defender Ashley Williams told BBC Match of the Day: “He’s a real problem for the league at the minute. He’s difficult to play against and he’s the complete striker – he’s got everything.
“When we look at the goals he’s scored this season, he’s a proper striker. He’s just got a knack for scoring goals and I’m excited to see him this season because he’s just going to go on and on and score more and more.”
