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Erling Haaland scored his second hat-trick in as many games as Manchester City thrashed Nottingham Forest at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night.
Three first-half goals from the man in form, Erling Haaland was enough to give Pep Guardiola’s rampant Manchester City side a comfortable 3-0 lead at half time.
The game’s pattern did not change in the second-half, sadly for Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper, who saw his side concede a further three goals from Joao Cancelo and Julian Alvarez, allowing City to romp to another well-earned win.
Manchester City’s victory makes it four wins from their first five games of the campaign, with their dramatic 3-3 draw away to Newcastle United being the only encounter where Pep Guardiola’s side have failed to come away with all three points.
The game started with early Manchester City pressure on the visitors’ goal, with a foray of corners leading to Forest goalkeeper Dean Henderson making a fine stop to deny Julian Alvarez on the Argentine’s first Premier League start.
It did not take long for City to take the lead and through who else but in-form Haaland.
Coming off the back of an excellent second half hat-trick against Crystal Palace at the weekend, the Norwegian notched again after just 12 minutes.
An enticing ball was sent in by Phil Foden leaving Erling Haaland to strike home from close range, beating Dean Henderson, and handing Manchester City a deserved lead against the newly promoted side.
The fast start continued as Haaland doubled his side’s lead, as well as his own personal tally for the night, with a tap-in into the net that had been vacated by Henderson – who had run out to close down Foden.
This goal took Erling Haaland’s Premier League goal tally to as many as eight this month, which is more than any other player has ever scored in the competition’s history for the month of August.
John Stones thought he had made it 3-0 by sliding the ball in from a Manchester City free-kick, but a faint touch from Haaland on the way through ensured that the English defender was narrowly offside and the premature celebrations were quickly curtailed.
As the first half began to close out, Manchester City showed no signs of slowing down and Haaland was there once again to head home following a corner.
This secured his second hat-trick in as many games for City and again, it was achieved within just one half of football.
Just before the half-time break, the hosts looked to have made it four, but Julian Alvarez’s shot struck the Forest post, being agonisingly close to a first Premier League goal for Pep Guardiola’s new Argentinian forward.
The second half did not get easier for the visitors on their maiden Premier League trip to the Etihad Stadium, as Joao Cancelo smashed another goal in, this time from outside of the box.
The Portuguese full-back’s strike from Bernardo Silva’s pass was so clean that it surely will be a late contender for both the Premier League and City’s goal of the month for August.
Pep Guardiola had seen enough after seeing Joao Cancelo’s ball fly in and decided to make a couple of substitutions.
Rodri and Phil Foden came off for Riyad Mahrez and Cole Palmer in what is becoming a congested fixture list for City.
Rest-bite for Forest did not come, but a first Premier League goal for Alvarez did, as the Argentine ran in behind the visitors’ defence, latching onto a nonchalant through ball from substitute Mahrez, and fired the ball through the helpless Henderson’s legs.
This latest goal prompted even more replacements from the Manchester City bench as Guardiola brought on Sergio Gomez and Kevin De Bruyne for goal scorer Cancelo and Man of the Match Erling Haaland, who came off to a raucous reception from the Etihad crowd.
It was not long after this that the Manchester City manager used his fifth and final substitution of the night, taking off Stones to give precious minutes to 17-year-old Rico Lewis for what was the young defender’s second Premier League appearance.
The rout was rounded off by another strike from Alvarez with the Argentine smashing the ball past Henderson with raw power, finishing off a City move that was catalysed by a surging run up the pitch from substitute Kevin De Bruyne.
The victory leaves the Citizens second position in the table behind leaders Arsenal, ahead of their away trip to Villa Park to face Steven Gerrard’s out of form Aston Villa in the late kick-off on Saturday evening.
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