Erling Haaland scores second-half hat-trick in 5-1 thrashing of Fulham at the Etihad Stadium
Erling Haaland was named last season’s PFA Players’ Player of the Year on Tuesday and, on this evidence, he has no intention of relinquishing that crown this term. The Manchester City striker has had plenty of better games than this – as have his team-mates – but the fact that he claimed a hat-trick and an assist and still left you thinking he was playing well within his limits is a rather chilling thought for rivals.
After City benefited from a most contentious Var call, which left the Fulham manager Marco Silva and his players seething, to take a fortuitous 2-1 lead into the interval, Haaland was pulled aside at half-time and asked to step it up by Juanma Lillo, City’s assistant manager.
“I said [to him] in the break, ‘This is not an easy game but you can still help us by scoring’,” said Lillo, who has taken on the role of stand-in manager with Pep Guardiola still recuperating in Barcelona after back surgery. “And he scored three.”
A fifth Premier League hat-trick, plundered in the space of just 37 minutes, means Haaland is now the fastest player to surpass 50 goals involvements in the competition – a record achieved in just 39 matches.