To all the people who said Erling Haaland would struggle in the Premier League; well, we’re not so clever now, are we?
The Norway striker has mowed down every opposition defender put in front of him since moving to England from Borussia Dortmund and, such is the quality of his team, it’s hard to see him slowing down anytime soon.
Haaland is likely to grab plenty of match balls during his time at the Etihad, so we probably keep track of them, right? Here’s every hat trick the behemoth striker has scored so far for City.
Crystal Palace are something of a bogey side for City; whenever they rock up to the Etihad, the Eagles seem to give Pep Guardiola’s side a mountain to climb.
It was the case again in August 2022 as Patrick Vieira’s side scored twice in the first half to take a 2-0 lead into the break.
However, once Bernardo Silva pulled one back in the second half the floodgates opened and Haaland charged straight through them.
He netted a 19-minute treble – his first in the Premier League – as City turned the game on its head to win 4-2.
Haaland again displayed his ruthlessness in front of goal against the newly promoted Nottingham Forest.
It was another blitz from the Norwegian as he put Forest to the sword within 38 minutes. He flicked in Phil Foden’s pass with his first touch before tapping into an empty net from close range, finishing his treble with a header with Dean Henderson again nowhere to be seen.
This performance took Haaland’s overall City goal tally to nine in just five games by the end of August.
All eyes were on Haaland for his first taste of the Manchester derby, but he ended up sharing the adulation from their 6-3 victory with the selfish Phil Foden, who also decided to net a hat trick.
The former Dortmund forward just about saw his header creep over the line for his first before his massive stature helped him reach Kevin De Bruyne’s cross to put City 3-0 up.
He smacked in Sergio Gomez’s cross just after the hour mark, also assisting Foden’s last two efforts.
If he wasn’t your FPL captain that week, it’s probably about time you learned your lesson; always captain Haaland.