Haaland hits hat-trick to take Man City top, Son treble inspires Spurs
Manchester City's Norwegian striker #09 Erling Haaland celebrates at the end of the English Premier League football match between Manchester City and Fulham at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on September 2, 2023. Manchester City wins 5 - 1 against Fulham. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)
Audio By Vocalize
Erling Haaland scored a hat-trick as Manchester City maintained their perfect Premier League start with a 5-1 thrashing of Fulham on Saturday, as Son Heung-min's also netted three times in Tottenham's 5-2 victory at Burnley.
But
Chelsea's huge investment in the transfer market is still to reap reward as the
Blues were beaten 1-0 at home by Nottingham Forest.
In keeping with the early weeks of the season, City were good enough for the three points without ever hitting top gear.
The English
champions were without manager Pep Guardiola as he recovers from back surgery
in his native Catalonia.
The home
side had not had a shot on target until Julian Alvarez turned home Haaland's
cross to open the scoring on 31 minutes.
Fulham, who
were missing influential midfielder Joao Palhinha after his deadline day move
to Bayern Munich collapsed on Friday, responded immediately when Tim Ream
tapped in from a corner.
City needed
a set-piece of their own to restore the lead in controversial circumstances.
Nathan
Ake's header was allowed to stand despite Manuel Akanji, who was in an offside
position, jumping over the ball.
Haaland
then exploded after the break. He became the fastest player to reach 40 Premier
League goals, in just 39 appearances, with a cool finish from Phil Foden's
through ball.
The
Norwegian then put his missed penalty at Sheffield United last weekend behind him
to slot home from the spot.
And he made
it six goals in five games this season by completing his hat-trick in stoppage
time.
Son
shines for Spurs
Spurs sit
just two points behind City as their sparkling start under Ange Postecoglou
continued.
Burnley had
taken the lead after just four minutes at Turf Moor through Lyle Foster.
But Son,
who was moved into a more central role by Postecoglou in place of Richarlison,
soon proved his manager had pulled off another masterstroke.
The
Tottenham captain's deft chip levelled before a thunderous strike from Cristian
Romero put the visitors in front in first-half stoppage time.
James
Maddison's curling finish from the edge of the box made it 3-1 before Son took
centre stage to score twice in three minutes to complete his hat-trick.
Chelsea's
spending on deadline day took their total splashed on new players in just over
a year under a consortium fronted by Todd Boehly to over £1 billion ($1.3
billion).
Moises
Caicedo's move from Brighton that could rise to £115 million broke the British
transfer record last month.
But the
Ecuador international was at fault for the only goal at Stamford Bridge to
leave Mauricio Pochettino's men embarrassed.
Anthony
Elanga slotted home three minutes into the second-half after Caicedo gave the
ball away inside his own half.
New signing
Cole Palmer was thrown on to try and turn the game around, but Chelsea's lack
of a natural goalscorer, despite their huge outlay, was again exposed.
Pochettino
has won just one of his first four games in charge to leave Chelsea already
eight points adrift of City.
Bournemouth
were denied their first win under Andoni Iraola as Bryan Mbuemo snatched a 2-2
draw for Brentford.
Sheffield
United and Everton secured their first point of the season after a pulsating
2-2 draw in the lunchtime kick-off.
Cameron
Archer's debut strike and a Jordan Pickford own goal put the Blades in front
after Abdoulaye Doucoure's early opener for Everton.
Arnaut
Danjuma levelled early in the second-half, but Everton needed some heroics from
Pickford in stoppage time.


Leave a Comment