Erling Haaland scored his first hat trick in the Premier League on Saturday, August 27, 2022, as Manchester City overcame a two-goal deficit to defeat Crystal Palace 4-2.
An own goal by John Stones and a header by Joachim Andersen put City behind 2-0 after just 21 minutes against a polished Palace team that was looking to avenge its 2-0 loss at the Etihad Stadium last season.
City had trailed by two goals in four of their last six Premier League games, but Pep Guardiola’s squad had won their previous three and came back to win this one.
Eight minutes into the second half, Bernardo Silva restored parity, and Haaland took over, scoring his first goals at home for City.
He scored six goals in his first four Premier League games after scoring three in the span of 20 minutes.
Wilfried Zaha’s injury prompted Patrick Vieira to start without the star forward, but it did not stop Palace from taking an early lead when Eberechi Eze’s free kick struck Kyle Walker and John Stones before spinning into the goal.
Another set piece in the 22nd minute made things worse for City. Eze once more provided the corner, from which Andersen was able to smash a header in while going unnoticed.
Ilkay Gundogan and Julian Alvarez were both stripped and prepared to be substituted early in the second half, but Guardiola decided against it after Silva gave City the lead again in the 53rd minute.
The Portuguese forward cut in from the right before firing a low effort that was deflected in by Jeffrey Schlupp.
Alvarez made an immediate effect as City leveled the score in the 62nd as Gundogan and Alvarez did enter the game shortly after the hour mark.
His deep cross was touched on for Phil Foden to chip back for Haaland, who went around Marc Guehi to head in his first Etihad goal.
He had his second eight minutes after that. Alvarez passed the ball to Silva from a short corner, who then brought it back for Stones, who rolled it across for Haaland to poke home from a yard out making it three.
With the hattrick, Erling Haaland has got more career hattricks than some great players and he is just 22 years of age.
He has so far scored 13 career hattricks than some great players like Wayne Rooney (10), Samuel Eto’o (9), and Fernando Torres who scored only 8 career hattricks.
City has gotten 10 points after four games, while Palace has four points from their four Premier League games.
