3 months ago
18
One week on from Pep Guardiola describing Erling Haaland's scoring statistics as "ridiculous", the Manchester City striker left his manager speechless after a breathtaking exhibition of clinical finishing at West Ham United.
He hit a hat-trick - his second in a week - as the defending champions won 3-1 at London Stadium to maintain their perfect start to the new Premier League season.
Haaland has scored seven goals in Manchester City's three games so far - four more than any other player.
It is his best start to a season during his time in England - even surpassing his debut campaign, when he scored an incredible 36 league goals in total.
And, worryingly for his rivals, Haaland is feeling better than ever after a summer away from football.
"I feel good, I feel energised," he said.
"I had a long vacation and pre-season. Now I'm ready for more."
Guardiola described Haaland's numbers as ridiculous, and he is not exaggerating.
The new season has only just got going but already his statistics make for incredible reading:
His seven goals in three games means he has outscored every other team in the Premier League by himself.
He has scored more goals after three games than any player managed for either Burnley or Sheffield United in the whole of last season.
He has also scored more than 51 out of 72 English Football League teams - and they have all played a game more than Haaland has.
He has also equalled a 30-year-old record, becoming the first player since Bradford City's Paul Jewell in 1994-95 to score two hat-tricks in a club's opening three games.
No wonder Guardiola is running out of ways to describe his star striker.
"No words for him," the Manchester City boss said after the West Ham win.
"All we can do is make him play better and better and give him as many balls as possible to the box.
"It's what we have to do."
Guardiola also hinted we are seeing something of a Haaland 2.0.
The striker, who had the summer off from any football as a result of Norway failing to qualify for Euro 2024, has always been a deadly goalscorer - but now appears to have developed other aspects of his game.
"He scored three goals today but he didn't lose one ball," added Guardiola.
"Today is one of the games where he has played the best in all situations. When you see the games and see what we want to do, he understands because he is a smart guy."
"I think the break in the summer did him a world of good," added former Manchester City defender Micah Richards on Sky Sports.
"His energy, his body language has been outstanding."
Haaland is racing towards the landmark of 100 league goals for Manchester City.
His treble on Saturday took him to 70 goals in 69 games and was also his 11th hat-trick for the defending champions.
All three finishes against West Ham were different, too. He calmly picked his spot to slot in the first, hammered his second into the roof of the net then strode away to finish one-on-one for his third.
"The first goal was a thing of beauty," former Liverpool midfielder Jamie Redknapp said on Sky Sports. "That was a beast. Beauty and the beast today.
"What's terrifying for every defender is that he looks better than ever. He looks confident and he looks happy.
"Every player smiles when they have the hat-trick ball but you could see it before the game. Last season, he scored loads of goals but they were harder to come by."
Haaland is averaging 2.3 goals per game this season. Project that over the entire campaign and it would equal 89 goals.
Even Haaland will - surely - be unable to maintain that sort of scoring rate, but it does highlight just how deadly he has been so far.
"His ruthlessness in front of goal is why he has scored so many," Richards added.
"It's extraordinary. He's one of the best I've ever seen."
