Back to back Erling Haaland hattrick leaves Premier League defenders quacking in their boots

Erling Haaland’s arrival at the Premier League was expected to be one for the ages and naturally, expectations were very high. Very few, however, would have expected the Norwegian to take to the Premier League as he has.

In the first five games, the 22-year-old has scored nine goals, a Premier League record. With three goals against Nottingham Forrest, Haaland has scored back-to-back hattricks and taken his goal tally to nine.

Earlier he scored two against West Ham in the first game of the season, but couldn’t score any in the second against Bournemouth. Against Newcastle, Haaland scored one goal and then went on to score a hattrick against Crystal Palace in the fourth match.

In the fifth match, Manchester City smashed six past Nottingham Forest’s defence including three from Erling Haaland, two from Julian Alvarez and one from Joao Cancelo. City totally dominated the recently promoted club as they kept the ball and hit Forest at regular intervals.

The city’s possession stat of 74.9% has been the most for this season. They all took 17 shots of which six were converted into goals.

Haaland has been the last piece of the jigsaw for Manchester City’s Champions League triumph. So far, they did not have a big number nine of Haaland’s quality at the front, something that is often credited as the reason for their loss in clutch Champions League matches.

City signed Haaland from German Club Borussia Dortmund in June this year. The deal which was worth £85.5m including signing bonus, agent fees and other costs now seems like a bargain given how impactful the Norwegian has been.

Liverpool and Arsenal win, Chelsea lose

Elsewhere in the league, Liverpool won against Newcastle in the extra time in a highly charged match. Arsenal also continued their winning run as they defeated Aston Villa by 2-1. A day prior, Chelsea was stunned by Southampton as the Saints smashed two goals to Chelsea’s one and trumped the Blues.

The two London clubs West Ham and Tottenham played a high-intensity 1-1 draw at the London Stadium. Leeds United and Everton also could not be separated as they hit one goal each.

The third day of the Matchweek 5 will bring Leichester City and Manchester United against each other for a clash of two struggling clubs.