Erling Haaland’s extraordinary first season for Manchester City has seen him beat last season’s Premier League Golden Boot haul after just 19 games in the competition.
The former Borussia Dortmund striker reached 25 league goals for the season with a hat-trick against Wolves on Sunday.
A first-half header was followed by a penalty early in the second half, before Haaland stroked in a third as Wolves’ defending unravelled.
Mohamed Salah and Son Heung-min shared the Golden Boot last season, as the Liverpool and Tottenham forwards each managed 23 goals.
Yet Haaland has taken the art of goalscoring to a new level this season, emerging as the league’s premier predator.
The Norwegian has scored 18 in 11 league games at City’s Etihad Stadium, already a club record for home Premier League goals in a single season.
He went past Sergio Aguero’s best home season haul of 16 on Sunday, with Haaland showing no signs of slowing down for Pep Guardiola’s side.
4 – Erling Haaland has scored his fourth Premier League hat-trick in just his 19th appearance, breaking Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record (fourth hat-trick in 65th app).
19 – Erling Haaland
65 – Ruud van Nistelrooy
81 – Luis Suárez
86 – Alan Shearer
89 – Robbie FowlerPlayground. pic.twitter.com/4rg2aHuP7a
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 22, 2023
This was also Haaland’s fourth Premier League hat-trick, making him by far the quickest player to hit so many trebles.
Former Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy was previously the fastest to bring up four hat-tricks, doing so in 65 games.
