Erling Haaland was a late doubt for today’s home fixture against Thomas Frank’s Brentford but declined compassionate leave following the death of close family friend Ivar Eggja this week, producing a brace to break another Premier League record as results elsewhere mean defending champions Manchester City are the division’s only perfect side four games into the season.
Haaland’s first-half brace downs bullish Bees
Manchester City 2-1 Brentford
Haaland 19, 32 — Wissa 1
Premier League champions stay perfect at 4-0, Liverpool lose at home to Forest
ERLING Haaland, who else but the Norwegian, would be the man to spearhead Manchester City’s unlikely comeback victory at home against Brentford earlier today?
John Stones’ miscue at the back teed up Yoane Wissa’s headed finish, 23 seconds in, to give Brentford the division’s fastest goal scored so far this term. They could’ve had a three-goal advantage before Haaland first struck, but for Rico Lewis denying Bryan Mbeumo then Ederson’s smart save to swat away Nathan Collins’ goalbound effort.
If he was perhaps fortunate about the way possession broke to him inside the box for his first, Haaland manipulated Ethan Pinnock like a training mannequin in the build-up for his second, assisted by a Brazilian goalkeeper whose searching long ball forward gave him licence to roam free and dutifully dink over a busy Mark Flekken.
Alan Shearer joked on BBC Radio 5 Live post-match that Haaland could’ve had four or five rather than just a brace, such were the chances afforded to him in a team centred around the 24-year-old, who reeled off consecutive hat-tricks on MD2 and MD3 against newcomers Ipswich and West Ham before the international break.
Having become the fastest player ever to reach 50 Premier League goals in 48 matches, some 17 fewer than Andy Cole with Shearer (66), Ruud van Nistelrooy (68), Mohamed Salah and Fernando Torres (both 72) all trailing, the Norwegian has broken Wayne Rooney’s 13-year record for most goals (8) in the first four games of a top-flight term.
Now on nine before they host Inter on Wednesday as the new-look Champions League format gets underway and Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal await four days later, it’ll be interesting to see how City’s goal machine fares when playing the same big games many critics use to undermine him.
Picture source: Getty Images
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