MY ACCOUNT
Erling Haaland described his start to life in the Premier League as “amazing” after hitting his second consecutive hat-trick to make history in Manchester City’s 6-0 demolition of Nottingham Forest.
Haaland – who scored a match-winning treble against Crystal Palace on Saturday – needed just 38 minutes to clinch a perfect hat-trick as Forest wilted on Wednesday, taking him to nine goals in his first five Premier League outings.
That tally represents a new competition record, bettering the eight-goal hauls managed by Sergio Aguero and Micky Quinn at the start of their Premier League careers.
City, meanwhile, have scored 19 goals across their opening five matches, the highest tally in their league history. The last side to exceed 19 goals after five matches at the start of a Premier League season was Manchester United in 2011-12 (21 goals).
Haaland has scored at the remarkable rate of a goal every 43 minutes since arriving at the Etihad Stadium, and is the first player to score hat-tricks in back-to-back Premier League games since Harry Kane in December 2017.
Speaking to BT Sport after the dominant win, Haaland said: “It’s amazing. Nothing more to say. It’s been good so far, I’m not complaining!
“It was about making sure we kept doing what we did in the second half against Palace, and just to play, play, play, play and play. We knew there was going to be chances, and it was nice.
“I try to listen as much as I can to Pep and to play with the boys because they’re amazing footballers and without them, I would not be able to score goals.
“So it’s about finding chemistry, playing together, and listening to Pep [Guardiola].
“It’s fantastic, that’s why I came here. You can see we play so good, we find each other and we will become even better, so it’s going to be nice.
“It’s important to keep going, it’s going to be a lot of games so it’s important to keep going and to enjoy as much as we can.”
While Haaland stole the show with his remarkable display of finishing, fellow City striker Julian Alvarez also enjoyed a landmark outing, scoring two goals on his first Premier League start.
Alvarez is the seventh Argentinian to score on his first Premier League start, and the first to do so more than once, and is targeting more than a bit-part role in Guardiola’s side.
Speaking to the BBC, Alvarez stated his belief he could form an effective partnership with Haaland, saying: “Obviously I’m very happy for the team performance, and for my two goals, and getting that reception from all the fans.
“I think it’s not me or Erling, we can play together in the starting eleven. We fit together, which is good for the team.
“Some things are similar from Argentina, like the ball pressing, but the Premier League is faster, I have to adapt to that. My team-mates help me and I am super grateful for that.”
