Erling Haaland netted a second-half hat-trick to earn his side three points as Man City were forced to come from behind once again to beat Crystal Palace 4-2.
Manchester City came into the game having dropped points in their last outing, coming from behind to earn themselves a point in their fascinating game against Newcastle last weekend.
Pep Guardiola’s side also played out a 3-3 draw in a midweek friendly against Barcelona, though their hopes of getting back to winning ways were dealt an early blow as they fell behind through a John Stones own goal in the fourth minute following an Eberechi Eze free-kick from the right.
Man City unsurprisingly dominated the ball after falling behind, but in the 21st minute, the visitors would stun the Etihad once again. Having created the first, Eze again put in another lovely delivery from the right, this time from a corner, his delivery picking out the unmarked Joachim Andersen in the middle of the box who steered his header beyond Ederson.
Crystal Palace have been somewhat of a bogey side for Man City, particularly in 3pm kick-offs, the Eagles being responsible for both of City’s most recent defeats in the traditional kick-off slot, and it looked as though lightning could be about to strike for the third time.
However, City pulled one back eight minutes into the second half, Barcelona and PSG target Bernardo Silva cutting onto his favoured left foot, before his deflected strike found its way past Vicente Guaita.
Having come from two goals down last weekend, the Champions repeated the trick to haul themselves level just after the hour mark. Phil Foden clipped in an inch-perfect cross from the left to pick out the head of Erling Haaland, who nodded past Guaita to make it 2-2.
The prolific Norweigian then completed the turnaround just minutes later, poking home from close range to steer John Stones’ scuffed effort into the back of the net following a corner for what was already his fifth goal in just four Premier League appearances.
Erling Haaland has bagged a first PL hat-trick 🔥
The 13th of an already absurd career 🤯 pic.twitter.com/CAEcnXT7Ab
— NXGN (@nxgn_football) August 27, 2022
Haaland wasn’t finished there though, the 22-year-old latching onto a threaded Ilkay Gundogan pass, before stroking past Guaita to complete his first hat-trick in English football, with all three goals coming within 19 minutes.
Speaking after the game, the ‘proud’ hat-trick hero praised his side’s ‘mentality’ after coming from behind.
“Really good feeling. A proud moment for me and my family. We keep going. These games are why I’m here – to turn things around when there are difficult times,” Haaland told BBC Sport.
“[My dad] will probably say he had more goals in the Premier League than me so I will chase that!
“In the end it was about small adjustments. We were almost there sometimes in the first half so it was about getting it done. This is what we do. It’s a good feeling.
“It’s really important to have this kind of mentality and we should get it even more. There is more we can do on set-pieces. We have to keep working hard.”
