He was playing, but he wasn’t ‘seen’ in big games like a tie with Real Madrid in the Champions League or against Arsenal, Liverpool, or Tottenham. He did score a brace against relegation strugglers Burnley, Everton or European minors Young Boys, he scored one hat-trick against Fulham and five goals in a 6-2 rout of Luton in the FA Cup. And tonight Erling Haaland scored four against Wolverhampton in a 5-1 win over Wolves at the Etihad. This was his fourth match in a row in the league in which he scored at least a goal, and two of them were from penalty kicks. Nevertheless, he is now on his 6th Premier League hat-trick in just 63 games.Erling Haaland (6) has now scored more Premier League hat-tricks than Ruud van Nistelrooy, Robin van Persie, Andy Cole and Dimitar Berbatov (all five). It’s taken him just 63 games. 🎩 pic.twitter.com/xCi1jkpGrS— Squawka (@Squawka) May 4, 2024 It was one of those games in which the result came quickly, so Pep Guardiola rarely had to move from his seat to give instructions to the player. It was already 3-0 at halftime and when the Norwegian scored his fourth goal in the 54th minute, every player in blue tried to assist to Haaland in order for him to score more goals. They tried, he tried, but either it was not a good chance, or it was Wolves’ Sa who saved his shots. Haaland was frustrated when Guardiola took him off in the 83rd minute, but the Spaniard probably believed that the Norwegian won’t score any more goals tonight. His replacement, Julian Alvarez scored the fifth and final goal with his first touch. Wolves manager Gary O’Neil has been suspended for this game and gave instructions from the terraces but it was all in vain. Even stronger teams came to Etihand and got crushed by the champions. After all, they managed only two total shots during 90 minutes. If it wasn’t for Ederson’s mistake, they wouldn’t score a consolation goal anyway.Gvardiol went down under a challenge from Ait-Nouri and City were rewarded a penalty after just 10 minutes of the game. Gvardiol’s shot was going over by the time the two players collided, and it was a bit of a harsh penalty. But Haaland took the ball and scored after 12 minutes. If this was easy, the second goal was a product of a real effort by the Norwegian. Rodri crossed the ball and Haaland produced a magnificent leap at the back post. And just before half-time, City’s striker produced a hat-trick after another penalty. This one was much more realistic than the first one, but initially, referee Craig Pawson didn’t give it to the home team. However, VAR intervened, and it was ruled that Semedo’s challenge on Haaland was enough for a penalty. Just as the second half started, Ederson failed to deal with Bellegarde’s cross, and Hwang finished with ease for a 3-1, but just minutes after, Haaland was there to make it 4-1. Until he went out in the 83rd minute, he tried and tried to score his fifth, but Sa was there to save it, as well as shots from Foden and Kovačić. PREMIER LEAGUE – MATCHDAY 36Friday Luton – Everton 1-1 (1-1)/Adebayo 31 – Calvert-Lewin 23 pen/Saturday Arsenal – Bournemouth 3-0 (1-0)/Saka 45 pen, Trossard 70, Rice 90+7/Brentford – Fulham 0-0Burnley – Newcastle 1-4 (0-3)/O’Shea 86 – Wilson 19, Longstaff 35, Guimaraes 40, Isak 55/Sheffield Utd – Nott.Forest (1-1)/Diaz 17(p) – Hudson-Odoi 27, 65, Yates 51/Man.City – Wolverhampton 4-1 (3-0)/Haaland 12, 35, 45+3, 54 – Hwang 53/Sunday 16:00: (2.85) Brighton (3.50) Aston Villa (2.40)16:00: (1.67) Chelsea (4.00) West Ham (5.00)18:30: (1.50) Liverpool (4.70) Tottenham (6.75)***odds are subject to change***
