Erling Haaland has reportedly gotten off to a fast start. He has already shattered several records and dispelled any skepticism on how quickly he would adjust to the demands of the Premier League.
In the community shield against Liverpool, he didn’t prove much. Darwin Núñez who was a newbie just like him at Liverpool came off the bench proved his worth when he came off the bench and within 39 mins won a penalty and converted it into the net for Liverpool.
After the encounter with Liverpool, it appeared that Haaland could require some time to adjust to City’s style of play and English football in general. Having only eight touches in the first half of that game, the fewest of any outfield player, he was criticized for his lack of involvement with Liverpool during the Community Shield match. He was also made fun of for hitting the crossbar in the final seconds of the game from six yards out.
In the face of backlash from City fans, Pep Guardiola managed to calm nerves by clearing the doubt of fans of the capabilities of his signee. According to the manager, Haaland is in a new environment and will adapt very soon.
Few weeks after the prediction and Haaland seems to showcase what he’s made off.
Sergio Agüero and Micky Quinn previously held the record for the most goals scored in a player’s first five games in the competition, but Haaland has allayed any concerns about a slow league start by scoring twice against West Ham in City’s opening game of the season.
In his subsequent four games, he added seven more goals. Harry Kane needed 18 games to score his first seven goals, compared to Alan Shearer’s nine games for his first seven.
He scored three goals against Manchester United Sunday. This makes him the Premier League player of the 2022-2023 season to have been able to score 14 goals at the early stages of the competition and also 3 the consecutive hat-tricks in three home league games.
The Norwegian joins a set of group to have achieve this feat at his prime. Les Ferdinand was the first to do it. He achieve the feat with Queen Palace Rangers against Nottingham Forest on 10 April 1993, and repeated it two days later against Everton. Other players to have also chalked the same success in their careers include Wayne Rooney, Didier Drogba, Ian Wright and Harry Kane.
In fact, in the past five years, City has accrued more than the combined total of Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, and Arsenal, who have accumulated 16 between them. Only Agüero, Raheem Sterling, and Salah have scored more personal hat-tricks in the previous five years than Haaland, who has six, and four apiece. The number of goals the Norwegian has scored thus far this season equals the totals Drogba, Jamie Vardy, Robbie Keane, and Cristiano Ronaldo have scored in the Premier League during the course of their entire professional careers.
Haalamd hhas also broken Michale Owen’s longtime record of playing fewer matches and scoring three-hat-tricks. Owen made his Premier League debut on Many 1997 and scored his first hat-trick in his 28th appearance. He reached his third hat-trick in his 48th appearance and that was 18 months for Owen to to do that. But what took Owen 18 months has taken Erling Haaland two months.
If Haaland is able produce goals after goals in every game as he’s doing, then he will be hitting 68 to 70 goals by the close of the season.
The all-time top-flight record of 60 goals, set by Dixie Dean for Everton in 1927–28, a 42-match season, is now within reach thanks to such astonishing scoring rates. Dixie Dean’s record was set during a season with 42 matches. By the end of April, Haaland will surpass Agüero’s record of 12 in the Premier League, which he set over the course of a decade, if he continues to score hat-tricks at this rate.
Haaland has become a beast in the Premier League with such an incredible performance at the early stages of the league.
