MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) -Manchester City’s Erling Haaland struck a second half hat-trick as the Premier League champions came back from two goals down to beat Crystal Palace 4-2 at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
The Norwegian, who averaged almost a goal per game in the Bundesliga for Borussia Dortmund before his move to City in June, has now scored six times in his opening four league matches for Pep Guardiola’s side.
The win moves City to the top of the table, level on 10 points with Brighton & Hove Albion. Palace are 13th with four points from their opening four games.
Haaland was given a standing ovation when he was substituted six minutes from the end but at halftime City were staring at a possible repeat of their 2-0 home loss to Palace last season.
An own goal from John Stones in the fourth minute put Patrick Vieira’s south London side ahead and then the visitors doubled their lead when an unmarked Joachim Andersen powered in a header from an Eberechi Eze corner in the 21st minute.
City struggled to find their fluency but the almost inevitable comeback started in the 53rd minute when Bernardo Silva cut in from the right and his low shot took a slight deflection and beat Palace keeper Vicente Guaita.
Pep Guardiola then made a double substitution and moved Phil Foden to left-back and within a minute he had delivered a pinpoint cross which Haaland met with a fine glancing header.
The Norwegian then turned in from close range after a clever move inspired by Silva and then saved the best for last – showing Ilkay Gundogan the pass he wanted to run on to and then holding off Joel Ward as he fired into the bottom corner.
The striker, signed from Borussia Dortmund in June, has now scored six goals in his opening four Premier League games.
Reuters/ST
Premier Roundup
MANCHESTER, England, Aug 27 (Reuters) – Liverpool matched the record for the biggest ever Premier League win with a 9-0 thrashing of Bournemouth on Saturday while Erling Haaland got his first Manchester City hat-trick and Manchester United ended a run of seven straight away league defeats.
But Arsenal remain the only team with a 100% record as they came from a goal down to beat Fulham 2-1 thanks to a late winner by Gabriel that kept the Gunners top of the table.
Liverpool had failed to win in their opening three games, including Monday’s 2-1 defeat at United, but talk of a sluggish start to the season was soon forgotten as they took a 2-0 lead within six minutes and added three more before the break.
Six different Liverpool players were on the scoresheet but remarkably Egyptian striker Mohamed Salah was not one of them.
Luis Diaz and Roberto Firmino scored twice as Liverpool became the fourth Premier League team to win by a 9-0 margin.
Full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold said the win was cathartic after the poor performance against their rivals at Old Trafford.
“That’s what we needed to do after Monday. Our aim was to come out of the blocks. We played on the atmosphere here today. We were on the front foot from the first kick. It was an outstanding game, an exceptional performance,” he said.
“It wasn’t the start to the season we hoped for. Three disappointing results. We had a point to prove. We needed to win and we did in a special way,” he added as the Reds moved up to ninth with five points from four games.
HAALAND TREBLE
Champions City were 2-0 down inside 21 minutes at home to Crystal Palace but after some tactical adjustments from Pep Guardiola early in the second half they roared to a 4-2 win with new signing Haaland providing a reminder of his goal threat.
The Norwegian’s glancing header from a Phil Foden cross had brought City level at 2-2 after a deflected Bernardo Silva effort pulled them back into the game.
Haaland then turned in a John Stones effort from close range and his third goal showcased his power and strength as he latched on to an Ilkay Gundogan pass, held off Joel Ward and blasted the ball into the bottom corner.
The former Borussia Dortmund forward now has six goals from his opening four league games and Guardiola, whose side are in second place level on 10 points with Brighton& Hove Albion, said he was simply showing his ability.
“What he has done today he has done all his career. It is nothing special (for him),” said the Spaniard.
A second-half goal from Bruno Fernandes was enough for United to win 1-0 at Southampton and earn a second straight victory to end their miserable streak of form away from home.
But United were sloppy in the final half hour and fortunate not to concede an equaliser versus a determined Saints side.
United manager Erik ten Hag had been heavily critical of his side after their last away trip – a 4-0 loss at Brentford – and indicated that his players had learnt their lesson.
“I saw a team on the pitch, good organisation, fight for each other, following the rules and I think there were also some really good moments from playing football,” said the Dutchman.
DREADFUL MISTAKE
Arsenal had enjoyed overwhelming possession but a dreadful mistake by Gabriel allowed Aleksandar Mitrovic to give previously unbeaten Fulham a 56th-minute lead with the Serb’s 100th goal for the club.
But eight minutes later a deflected effort from Gunners captain Martin Odegaard levelled the score and it was former Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno who had a key role in the winner five minutes from the end.
Leno fumbled an Arsenal corner and allowed Gabriel to make amends for his earlier error with a simple tap-in.
Raheem Sterling’s first two goals for Chelsea led the 10-man west Londoners to a 2-1 home win over Leicester City as Thomas Tuchel’s side overcame the early dismissal of Conor Gallagher. They are sixth in the standings on seven points.
Brighton set a club record of nine consecutive top-flight matches without defeat as they handed Leeds United their first loss of the campaign to move up to second place.
Pascal Gross grabbed the goal in a 1-0 victory that leaves the south-coast side in third spot.
(Reporting by Simon Evans, Editing by Ken Ferris)
