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Erling Haaland continued his incredible start to life in the Premier League with a record-setting treble in Manchester City’s 6-0 thrashing of Nottingham Forest.
The Norway international made it two hat-tricks in the space of five days – and a perfect one at that, with his right foot, left foot and head – in City’s latest statement victory.
Meanwhile, Liverpool left it late to see off Newcastle United 2-1 at Anfield.
There were goals and drama elsewhere on Wednesday, too, and Stats Perform unpacks the pick of the data.
Manchester City 6-0 Nottingham Forest: Haaland makes history
Haaland now has nine goals in five Premier League games since joining City from Borussia Dortmund – the best start of any player in the competition’s history at this stage.
He surpassed the record of eight goals previously held by Micky Quinn and City great Sergio Aguero, the man he is effectively replacing at the Etihad Stadium.
The prolific striker is just the seventh player to score a hat-trick in back-to-back games in the competition and the first since Harry Kane did so for Tottenham in December 2017.
Fellow newbie Julian Alvarez also scored twice, while Joao Cancelo netted the other as City bagged five or more goals in a league game for the 32nd time under Pep Guardiola.
That accounts for 14 per cent of City’s games under the Catalan coach in the competition, with that tally more than twice as many as any other side over that period (Liverpool, 15).
The only side to have exceeded the 18 goals City have scored after five games of a Premier League season were Manchester United, who had 21 to their name at this stage 11 years ago.
Liverpool 2-1 Newcastle United: Carvalho the late hero
Newcastle led with an hour played at Anfield, only for Roberto Firmino to level and Fabio Carvalho to fire home in the 98th minute to snatch all three points for Liverpool.
That was the 40th winning Premier League goal scored by Liverpool in the 90th minute or later – the most of any side – with three of those coming in this fixture.
Timed at 97 minutes and nine seconds, it was Liverpool’s latest goal in the top flight since Dirk Kuyt’s penalty against Arsenal in April 2011 (101:48).
Alexander Isak had earlier given Newcastle the lead with a debut goal, making him the sixth Swedish player to net on his Premier League bow.
Arsenal 2-1 Aston Villa: Martinelli keeps Gunners perfect
Arsenal dug deep to overcome Villa and make it five wins in a row to begin a league campaign for the first time since the 2004-05 season, when they went on to finish second.
Gabriel Jesus steered Arsenal ahead for his sixth goal involvement in his first five Premier League outings for the club, breaking Mesut Ozil’s previous record of five.
Douglas Luiz equalised directly from a corner, but Arsenal hit back just 151 seconds later through Gabriel Martinelli, who converted Bukayo Saka’s cross.
That was Saka’s 17th Premier League assist – only Cesc Fabregas (38), Wayne Rooney (22) and Michael Owen (18) had more before turning 21.
West Ham 1-1 Tottenham: Soucek denies Spurs
Tottenham could not see out a lead at London Stadium as they were denied the chance to make their best start to a Premier League season after five games.
Thilo Kehrer turned a Harry Kane delivery into his own net, with that a league-high seventh own goal scored by West Ham since the start of the 2020-21 season.
Tomas Soucek levelled for West Ham with his 19th Premier League goal, each of those coming from inside the 18-yard box.
That strike was assisted by Michail Antonio on his 200th league appearance for West Ham, whose tally of two goals after five games is their fewest since 1994-95 (one).
While Spurs could not hold on for the win, they are unbeaten after five games in the competition for only the third time, having previously done so in 2004-05 and 2016-17.
