Gary Lineker has expressed his disbelief at the phenomenal debut season Erling Haaland is having at Manchester City.
The striker netted all three goals in his side’s 3-0 win over Wolves on Sunday to keep them within viewing distance of Arsenal. Those strikes took him to 31 for the campaign, of which 25 have come in 19 Premier League matches.
His treble was the fourth hat-trick he’s hit this league season, thereby smashing a previous record held by former Manchester United attacker Ruud van Nistelrooy. The Dutchman has accomplished the same feat in 65 matches - for Haaland it has taken just 19.
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The superstar looks a shoo-in for the golden boot, already ten goals ahead of Harry Kane, who plays Fulham on Monday evening. The record for the most goals in a Premier League season stands at 34, shared by Alan Shearer and Andy Cole.
It means Haaland needs to score just 10 more goals in 18 games to make the top-scoring title his own. Reacting to Haaland’s latest hat-trick, Lineker relayed his astonishment.
Taking to Twitter, he said: "Good heavens, @ErlingHaaland has another hat-trick, his 4th in 20 games [sic]. It’s getting a bit silly now.”
Speaking after the win over Wolves Pep Guardiola unpacked Haaland’s epic contribution to City. "He scored I don't know how many hat-tricks and he's the solution for everything," said Guardiola. "When he doesn't score he's the problem.
"He is not a guy who is going to take the ball 10 metres behind the box, dribble two or three and score a goal. It's not a possibility.
"He has to get the balls being delivered as much as possible, we have fantastic players around him. Always I believe, we know each other.
“He lives 24 hours for his job, his passion, his love. He does not stress much when it is going well or bad. He's stable. He feels the defeats. It's really good. The numbers are incredible.”
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