Erling Haaland

Haaland scored after just seven minutes — powering a first-time shot past Grabara after impressive work from Joao Cancello.

But in Haaland, he has secured arguably the most fearsome attacking threat in world football. “We prepared, but he’s a top class striker,” he said. “The keeper said something to me as I was walking back. “For the first and second goals I was just laughing. That is the question hanging over Haaland. “In the end, what’s going to happen in the future, who knows it?” added Guardiola.

The most comfortable of victories ensured City has taken a maximum nine points in the group and need two more to be sure of a spot in knockout stages.

There was to be no hat-trick for Haaland as he was withdrawn at halftime, but the goals kept coming as Riyad Mahrez slotted home a penalty before Julian Alvarez finished things off with a late fifth. City kept coming and added a third six minutes before the break as David Khocholava put through his own net, with Haaland lurking just behind in the hunt for his second treble in four days. Haaland wasted no time in getting City going with yet another strike in his remarkable campaign, sweeping home an early opener, before putting the game beyond the Danish side inside 32 minutes.

The Norwegian has been on fire since arriving in the summer from Borussia Dortmund, with a brace against Copenhagen taking his tally to 19 in 12 games.

But Haaland will have the chance to take Mesi's record under Guardiola outright when City welcome Southampton to the Etihad on Saturday. That brace - the first a ferocious, lashed effort and the second an instinctive tap-in - saw the 22-year-old match Lionel Messi for the longest scoring run under Pep Guardiola’s management. He is breaking all kinds of records and sure enough another one was ticked off against the Danish champions in his action-packed 45-minute cameo.

It's early October. And yet Erling Braut Haaland already has 19 goals for the season, 14 in the Premier League and five in Europe. He's scored these 19 goals in ...

This extends right through to the architecture of the club. He tells us that this is a side built on an unusual sense of the collective, even to the point where the players are free - and actively encouraged - to tell their manager where he's going wrong. The men’s and women’s teams of all ages train on the first-team pitch and are all permanently based at the stadium. And of all the accolades and trophies coming his way, none will compare to that. The average age of the first XI in the league last season was 20.7 and 33-year-old Kian Hansen started 25 matches. Beyond the actual results, last night's edition of the Champions League turned into a self-contained Goal of the Week competition. Liberated by Chelsea's switch to a back three, he took clear and total possession of the entire right flank, managing to score one, make another, and keep Rafael Leao quiet for almost the entire game. And the key point of that blueprint? As a neutral, Haaland's compelling, in the same sort of way a video of a tree falling over is compelling. He contains both parts of the ideal striking partnership: the earth-shaking presence of the big man and the snaffling goal sense of the little man. Chelsea moved the ball quickly, threatened from all angles, and over the course of the evening they essentially overpowered Milan. At that point, we'll all be able to make a round of Halloween jokes - oh no, Guardiola was the scientist; this is Guardiola's Monster - but after that, we've got a serious problem.

Reports in Spain had suggested Erling Haaland could join Real Madrid from Man City in 2024, but Pep Guardiola has shut down talk of a release clause in his ...

This does not feel like a hot streak, just the inevitable result of ice-cold finishing and a talent for the ages." "In the end, what is going to happen in the future, nobody knows. This is the most important thing." "He adapted really well and I have the feeling that he is incredibly happy here. "It is not true", the Spaniard said. That is the most important thing.

Pep Guardiola resisted the temptation to rest the Norway international in a game Manchester City was expected to win easily, and Erling Haaland duly ...

“The keeper said something to me as I was walking back. “For the first and second goals I was just laughing. Turning to the crowd and rubbing his hands together with glee there seemed to be an acknowledgement that this is almost unfair. He was only denied a second successive hat trick by the acrobatics of Copenhagen goalkeeper Kamil Grabara – and his manager’s decision to withdraw him at the interval. “In the end, what’s going to happen in the future, who knows it?” added Guardiola. After Erling Haaland’s latest two-goal display in the UEFA Champions League 2022, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola had to quell speculation that the Norway striker could already be planning a move out of the club.

The win helped Manchester City maintain a 100 percent record in Group G, three points clear of Borussia Dortmund. Riyad Mahrez and Julian Alvarez also ...

“I saw the goals and the second goal there was a shot and when you see the way he moves when the ball was on the way and he gets the rebound like it was natural. He said, ‘He’s not human!’ I said, ‘You’re telling me?’ Hopefully he can carry on this form and take us to glory.” That is the question hanging over Haaland. He was only denied a second successive hat trick by the acrobatics of Copenhagen goalkeeper Kamil Grabara – and his manager’s decision to withdraw him at the interval. “For the first and second goals I was just laughing. “In the end, what’s going to happen in the future, who knows it?” added Guardiola. Real was among a host of Europe’s leading clubs tracking Haaland last season —- but it was City who won the race for his signature in a $63 million deal from Borussia Dortmund.

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland does not have a termination clause in his contract relating to Real Madrid.

Yet his incredible form has already drawn speculation about his future despite the fact he only moved to Pep Guardiola's side in June. There has been speculation a clause in his contract could allow Real Madrid to land the Norwegian for €200m (£175m/$197m) in 2024. The striker earns a salary of €20m (£17m/$19m) net per season, plus bonuses.

Alan Shearer, Andy Cole and Sergio Agüero will have their names replaced in the record books if Haaland keeps this up.

As for his fellow countrymen, Haaland has surpassed Steffen Iversen and Josh King, who both scored two hat-tricks in the Premier League, and matched Ole Gunnar Solskjær, who scored three in his 235 Premier League appearances. If Haaland keeps scoring hat-tricks at this frequency, he will break Agüero’s record of 12 in the Premier League – which he set over the course of a decade – by the end of April. [against Fulham on the opening weekend of the season](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/aug/06/fulham-liverpool-premier-league-match-report). Shearer scored five hat-tricks for Blackburn in the 1995-96 season, which remains a record for a single campaign. If Haaland continues at his current rate of 1.75 goals per game, he will rack up 66 goals this season, almost doubling the existing Premier League record of 34 that was set by Andy Cole in 1993-94 and matched by Shearer the following year. [Three goals against Manchester United on Sunday](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/oct/02/manchester-city-manchester-united-premier-league-match-report) means that Haaland has scored 14 in his first eight Premier League matches, which includes the unique achievement of consecutive hat-tricks in three home league games. [City’s first match of the season](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/aug/07/west-ham-manchester-city-premier-league-match-report) then scored a further seven times in his next four games, breaking the record – previously shared by Sergio Agüero and Micky Quinn – for the most goals scored in a player’s first five games in the competition. Haaland is more than halfway to that number already with 31 games to play this season – and he will take a four-week rest while many of his opponents are in Qatar for the World Cup. The Englishman scored three hat-tricks in the space of 10 matches between November 1994 and February 1995; Haaland has sliced that milestone in half. For individual hat-tricks in the last five years, only Agüero with six, and Raheem Sterling and Salah with four each, have scored more than Haaland. In fact, in the last five years, City have racked up more than the combined total of Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal, who have amassed 16 between them. You could say that Erling Haaland has hit the ground running.

Will Man City striker Erling Haaland smash the all-time Premier League Golden Boot goal record of 32 goals in a 38-game season set by Mohamed Salah in 2018?

If rested in Copenhagen, he can focus on the Premier League for much of October. This does not feel like a hot streak, just the inevitable result of ice-cold finishing and a talent for the ages. The striker's current goal-rate sets him on course to finish the season on 108 goals in all competitions - if he were to maintain his strike-rate, game time and reach all finals. Domestically, we are already reaching beyond the Premier League for comparisons. but, the Norwegian is clearly set to break more records - and there is a growing sense he will rewrite the record scales entirely. There were no cheers but that was it - his second pass of the night. A coach who has built his success on a passing game now boasts the world's most formidable forward and yet he hardly passes the ball at all. Will Man City striker Erling Haaland smash the all-time Premier League Golden Boot goal record of 32 goals in a 38-game season set by Mohamed Salah in 2018? Play for free, entries by 3pm Saturday. Incredibly, this scoring phenomenon already had his second goal of the night by then. He hardly touches it at all. Haaland appears to be genuinely unstoppable when in full flow.