Erling Haaland hat-trick vs West Ham 'unbelievable', says Man City boss Guardiola

Manchester City are letting Erling Haaland “do what he wants”, manager Pep Guardiola said after the striker moved four goals clear of the Premier League's top scorer with a hat-trick in a 3-1 win at West Ham.

Haaland's treble – his second in seven days following City's 4-1 thrashing at Ipswich Town on August 24 – sent the reigning champions top of the table, with only Liverpool able to draw level with them ahead of next week's international break.

“From the start, he was unbelievable,” Guardiola told Sky Sports. “You should let him do what he wants. He scored three goals today but didn't lose a single ball.

“Today is one of the games that he played well in all situations. If you see the games and see what we want to do, you understand because you are a smart person. He wants to score goals.”

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Amazing, @ErlingHaaland 🤯 pic.twitter.com/vKuIoQntev

— Manchester City (@ManCity) August 31, 2024

Haaland vs West Ham

The 24-year-old's 21 touches were the fewest of any starter on either side, with only West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola, who was substituted at half-time but still had three more touches than Haaland, in comparison. rarely.

Two-time Premier League top scorer Haaland is already on course to finish as the division's top scorer for a third consecutive campaign, latching on to Bernardo Silva's goal and slotting past Areola after 10 minutes at the London Stadium.

West Ham scored through Ruben Dias after nine minutes but Haaland restored City's advantage with a powerful strike on 30 minutes inside the box.

A deft chip over Lukasz Fabianski completed Haaland's 11th hat-trick for City after beating West Ham's offside trap with seven minutes remaining.

Erling Haaland. That is all.#ManCity pic.twitter.com/4iZnJz2jZz

— Manchester City (@ManCity) August 31, 2024

Premier League goalscoring record

If Haaland equals the number of goals he scored in his first season at City, he will be 99 years old in the Premier League.

At that rate, it will take Haaland another five seasons to surpass Newcastle and Blackburn Rovers legend Alan Shearer's Premier League record of 260 goals.

“With this mentality, he can do everything,” said Guardiola. “Numbers, and [young] age and games played. He loves what he does on the field.”

The second best player in the 2024-25 campaign is Noni Madueke, who has three goals to go along with his hat-trick in Chelsea's 6-2 win over Wolves last Sunday.