Erling Haaland is well on his way to breaking Premier League records
The 22-year-old seems to set a new goalscoring record every time he’s on the pitch Manchester derby on Sunday was no exception.
With his three goals in Manchester City’s 6-3 win over Manchester United, Haaland has already scored 14 Premier League goals after just eight games this season – seven more than Harry Kane, who is second in the league’s top scorers list .
The Norwegian striker is also the fastest player to score three hat-tricks in the Premier League, surpassing Michael Owen’s record (48 games).
For comparison: Cristiano Ronaldo has scored three hat-tricks in his entire Premier League career.
With his trebles against Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest and now United, Haaland has become the first player to score a hat-trick in three consecutive home games in the Premier League – dispelling any fears that he will only be able to do so following his move from Borussia Dortmund in the summer found it difficult to get used to Pep Guardiola City’s team.
He is on course to break Liverpool striker Mohammed Salah’s record of scoring 32 goals in 38 games in a Premier League season. At his current scoring rate, he is also on course to break Dixie Dean’s 95-year-old record of 60 goals in 39 games in the English Premier League.
Against United, in addition to his three goals, Haaland also provided two assists for Phil Foden, who also scored a hat-trick.
After his first goal from a corner, Haaland headed his second goal after a perfect pass from De Bruyne and completed his hat-trick in the second half when he converted a cross from Sergio Gómez – further proof of how quickly the Norwegian has adapted to the system by Guardiola.
“The quality we have next to him helps him score goals, but I didn’t teach him what he does,” said Guardiola when asked about Haaland’s goal record.
“He has incredible instincts. He got that from his mother and father – he was born with it.”
Haaland’s father Alf-Inge played for City between 2000 and 2003, while his mother Gry Marita Braut Norwegian heptathlon champion.
Although City currently sit second in the table behind Arsenal, few will dispute that the club, which has won four Premier League titles in the last five years, will be hard to stop this season – especially with Haalands in place Goalscoring qualities.
With 29 goals already this season – an average of almost four per game – City are still unbeaten and on course to surpass the league record of 106 goals in a single season set in 2017/18.
“There are a few things we need to improve – we lose some easy balls and we need to improve on that,” Guardiola said.
“We don’t do the simple things well. But six goals against United, which came after a four-game winning streak [in der Liga]including Arsenal and Liverpool, have come are really good.”
Perhaps lost in the brilliance of Manchester City’s performance was what defeat meant for United, who trailed 6-1 before Anthony Martial’s two consolation goals.
The derby defeat was United’s third defeat in the league this season, dropping them to seventh place in the table. Manager Erik ten Hag is faced with the question of what to do with Ronaldo, who sat on the bench throughout the game.
“I wouldn’t substitute him because we’re 4-0 down and out of respect for Cristiano and his great career,” said ten Hag, explaining why Ronaldo, who hasn’t scored a goal in the league this season, was left out in the second half.
The Dutchman cited his players’ lack of belief as the reason for the poor performance against Man City, which followed a run of four league wins against Liverpool, Southampton, Leicester and Arsenal.
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“In the [vorangegangenen] Playing – yes, a few weeks ago – our team was confident, there was a good mood, a good atmosphere, and today we didn’t bring that to the pitch from the first minute,” said ten Hag.
“The spirit hasn’t gone away, but today they didn’t bring the belief onto the pitch. It’s possible to play and we didn’t do it.”
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Those: edition.cnn.com
2023-12-25 00:42:57
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