Erling Haaland went home with another match ball due to his brilliant performance against Burnley in the FA Cup quarter-final on Saturday, 18th of March, 2023.
Erling Haaland, the Norwegian goal machine held to the field on Saturday with 39 goals in the 2022-2023 campaign and left with 42 goals in all competitions in his first season as a Manchester City player.
Manchester City rolled into the FA Cup semi-finals with ease, defeating Championship leaders Burnley 6-0 at Etihad Stadium thanks to a hat trick from Erling Haaland.
After scoring five goals in the Champions League against RB Leipzig, Haaland was not content and scored twice in quick succession in the first half to bury runaway Championship leaders Burnley, who had gotten off to a good start.
Manchester City vs Burnley match in brief;
Manchester City welcomed Burnley to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday with the return of their legendary former captain Vincent Kompany.
Kompany last played at the Etihad, he scored perhaps the best goal of the season with a long-range, swerving, top-corner finder against Leicester City that effectively sealed the Premier League title for Manchester City in 2019 (his fourth for the club).
On his return, Guardiola gave him a bear embrace and got a standing ovation from the spectators.
Interestingly, before embracing City’s acclaim, Kompany clapped the visiting Burnley fans.
Even though his time with City will always be memorable, his time with Burnley is what he has right now.
With a 3-1 victory against Hull City under their belts in the Championship, Burnley entered this match in fine form.
At the moment, Kompany’s team is leading the league by a comfortable 13 points over second-place Sheffield United.
They haven’t won in Manchester since 1973, and since then they’ve only drawn four times and lost 12 times while they’re on the road.
However, things didn’t go according to expectations for Kompany and his team.
Erling Haaland quickly got on the scoresheet with a brace in the 32, and 35 minutes of play with an assist from Julian Alvarez and Phil Foden.
In the second half, he finished off his hat trick, and goals from Cole Palmer and Julian Alvarez made it a 6-0 blowout for Pep Guardiola’s team.
Erling Haaland’s stats this season
The 22 year old striker has 37 appearances scoring 42 goals with 6 hat tricks. He has recorded 8 goals in his last two games for Manchester City, and has more hat tricks in all competitions than every other Premier League player (5) this season combined.
Haaland has played six matches in the UEFA Champions League scoring 10 goals, playing 26 games with 28 goals, and five assists in the English Premier League, and one goal in two matches in the EFL cup.
The previous 93 year old club record of 38 goals a season which was held by Tommy Johnson in that 1928–1929 campaign had already been broken by Haaland.
With his 40-plus goals this season, the 22-year-old became only the sixth player in Premier League history to accomplish such a feat.
At present Ruud van Nistelrooy and Mohamed Salah hold the record for most goals scored in a single season in EPL with 44, but Haaland may break the record before the end of the current campaign.
What’s next for Manchester City and Erling Haaland?
The Citizens will be in action at the Emirates Stadium against Liverpool in the English Premier League on Saturday, 1st of April, 2023, and Haaland will be looking forward to continuing his fine form against Jurgen Klopp’s men.
