Erling Haaland silenced his critics by netting a hat trick as Manchester City claimed a comfortable 3-0 win over Wolves on Sunday at the Etihad.
The forward broke the deadlock just before half time connecting with a cross from midfielder Kevin De Bruyne to head the ball in, before stepping up to double the home side’s lead with a penalty in the 50th minute after Ilkay Gundogan was tripped by Ruben Neves.
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Just a few minutes later, Haaland made it three slotting home a pass from Riyad Mahrez into the bottom left corner of the goal past Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa.
The strike took the Norway international to 25 goals this season, two more than either Son Heung-Min or Mohamed Salah scored as the Premier League joint-top scorers last season.
Haaland also broke former Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record of being the fastest player to four Premier League hat-tricks. Haaland’s four came in 19 games, Van Nistelrooy’s in 65.
Haaland had in fact endured a mini goal drought of three City appearances in all competitions prior to last week’s strike against Tottenham, but he certainly brought his shooting boots for the visit of struggling Wolves.
His remarkable 25-goal league haul from 19 matches would have been enough to win the Premier League golden boot in each of the previous four seasons. Dixie Dean’s record of 60 goals scored in a single league season, set in 1928, remains in sight.
The win keeps City second in the table knocking on the heels of leaders Arsenal, with the London club set to play Manchester United later on Sunday.
Information from Reuters contributed to this report.
