Manchester [UK], September 3 : The Norwegian talismanic striker Erling Haaland's hattrick against Fulham ensured Manchester City remained the only team to win their first four matches before the international break.
The Premier League title holders, the team that completed the elusive 'Treble', produced a five-star performance with a thumping 5-1 victory against Fulham at the Etihad Stadium.
With this performance, the Norwegian broke another record since his arrival in the Premier League.
His first goal against Fulham was his 40th in the Premier League in his 39th appearance in the competition. He’s reached that tally quicker than any other player in Premier League history, surpassing Alan Shearer’s record.
After a nervy start to the game and some misplaced passes from both sides, Julian Alvarez broke the stalemate with a classic City move.
Fulham equalised under three minutes following Tim Ream's tap-in from a corner. The hosts managed to overcome the setback, with Nathan Ake leaping above everyone else following a corner to score from a header moments before halftime.
Heavy protest unfolded from Fulham's side arguing about Manuel Akanji interfering from an offside position.
VAR ruled out their protests and deemed the goal legal.
The first half ended with the scoreline in favour of City reading 2-1.
The second half was pure domination by Manchester City with Haaland announcing himself and taking centre stage.
The duo of Haaland and Alvarez started to ask questions that Fulham had no answers to. Alvarez flicked the ball which took a deflection from Ream which fell in the Norwegian's path. He didn't make any mistake to slot the ball past Bernd Leno.
In the 68th minute, Issa Diop brought down Alvarez inside the box allowing Haaoland to convert from the spot making the scoreline 4-1.
The fifth goal came in the final minutes of the game with Haaland scoring following a cutback pass from left-back Sergio Gomez.
Manchester City will remain at the top of the table with 12 points as the season heads towards the international break.
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