Haaland’s 23rd career hat-trick!
Sports Desk, Aug 24 (EFE).-
Erling Haaland’s 23rd career hat-trick propelled Manchester City to a 4-1 win over Ipswich Town at Etihad Stadium in Manchester on Saturday.
In his debut, Sammie Szmodics gave Ipswich a flying start at seven minutes with a shot through the legs of Ederson, kicking City into gear.
The visiting team’s high was short-lived however, with Kieran McKenna’s side leading until minute 12, then down 3-1 just four minutes later.
First, Haaland shot a penalty to even the score, before a goal from Keven de Bruyne two minutes later, and another from Haaland at minute 16.
City already leads the Premier League and Haaland tops the scoring charts, but that apparently was not enough.
Two minutes from the end, the Norwegian created his third goal from outside the area, receiving with his back turned and in seconds unleashing a shot into the net, making 94 goals in 101 games with City.
It was the first time ever in a Premier League game on record that each of the first four shots in this game were scored.
“The numbers are ridiculous,” said Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola of Haaland. “He can compete in terms of goals with Ronaldo and Messi.
“It is an incredible strength for us and we are very happy to have him, hopefully he can be here for many, many years.”
Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna said his team had “got off to a fantastic start” but that “the game was lost in a five minute spell where there are some big lessons for us to learn.” EFEmm-tw
