The Norwegian striker scored all the goals in the 3-0 victory for Pep Guardiola’s team over Wolverhampton.
Once again Erling Haaland, this time with a hat-trick, pushed Manchester City to victory against Wolverhampton (3-0) by Julen Lopetegui, the man who successfully came to the rescue of his team and who came down from the cloud after a match in which the team led by Josep Guardiola suffered the roller.
If nothing goes wrong, Haaland will pulverize records this season. His numbers are spectacular. With the three goals he scored against Wolves, he has reached 25 this season in 19 Premier League games. He has already celebrated more than the top scorers of the previous four seasons (Son Heung-min and Mohamed Salah scored 23 in 2021/22, the same as Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy in 2020/21 and 2019/20, respectively).
In front of him he had a rival whom City left absolutely ko from the beginning. Reborn from its ashes after the arrival of Lopetegui on the bench, Wolverhampton, a new team under the command of the Spanish coach, faced a tough challenge that they could never overcome. It seems that he is not yet mature enough to test himself against such powerful rivals. The possibility of surprise must never be ruled out, but City never lent itself to it.
Haaland’s exhibition will not detract one iota of merit from Lopetegui, who took Wolves out of UVI in just four games. He reached five points from salvation and after adding seven out of twelve possible he managed to get him out of relegation. Now, despite the defeat against City, he will continue out of dangerous places.
City did not take long to bottle up Wolves, locked in their plot of the pitch since referee David Coote whistled the start of the duel. Throughout the first part, he accumulated one warning after another due to his rival’s inability to generate anything at all.
The central Nathan Collins increased his figure to postpone the tragedy. For 40 minutes, it was an impregnable wall for City, which on many occasions ran into the fierceness and quality of the Irish giant (1.93). However, I cannot avoid a carousel of chances that Haaland started after 18 minutes with a shot that José Sá saved.
Haaland’s notice was followed by Ilkai Gündogan’s (header over the goal) and Rodri Hernández’s (a long shot that narrowly missed) which gave way to the Norwegian player’s first goal, who opened the can with a header with which he took advantage of the tenth assist of the De Bruyne course.
City continued to pass the roller and in just ten minutes Haaland ended any comeback attempt by Wolves. First, he was successful in a penalty committed by Rúben Neves on Gündogan; and, later, he took advantage of a mistake by Sá to sign another treble, the fourth in an official match since he signed for Guardiola’s team.
His two goals did not lower the revolutions of his teammates. Replaced by Julián Álvarez and applauded by the Etihad fans, without Haaland Guardiola’s men continued with the show. They did not manage to increase the income, but they certified a victory with which they were placed two points behind Arsenal (they have two games less) thanks to the insatiable voracity of Haaland.
EFE