S Poddar
Erling Haaland isn’t on course to break the Premier League’s hat-trick record – he’s on course to smash it, according to former Chelsea striker Tony Cascarino. The Norwegian hotshot netted his latest treble against West Ham, leaving Cascarino, now a co-host on talkSPORT’s Weekend Sports Breakfast, echoing the sentiments of many.
This ruthlessness in front of the goal by Erling Haaland was fully realized in Manchester City’s 3-1 victory. He scored two solo efforts, one with a clever run to open up space, and another with a delicate chip. His second goal showed a different skill set, rounding off a delightful passing move by slamming the ball home.
This latest hat-trick, following his phenomenal performance against Ipswich Town, is his second successive treble. These put him to an astonishing eight Premier League hat-tricks in just 69 games, already matching Harry Kane’s tally – which he had achieved in a whopping 320 outings.
Sergio Aguero – City’s former hat-trick king with 12 in 275 games – is now firmly in Haaland’s shadow. And Cascarino thinks that will be taken away from him in no time at all. They’ll probably get another four hat-tricks this season. It’s astonishing… Would it be that unlikely that he got another four hat-tricks? No, not at all.
Natalie Sawyer, presenting with Cascarino, sounded plainly incredulous: “So he could do that with less than 100 games played? That does not seem right at all. He is an absolute robot in some ways,.
Cascarino revealed, “He’s everything. He’s got a big smile on his face a lot of the time and you sort of think, well why wouldn’t he? Because he’s confident and that’s clear. If he avoids injury he’s getting 30 plus goals easily this year.”
Haaland’s Relentless Pursuit of the Record
Numbers say it all. Haaland has racked up an incredible 70 league goals in just 69 games since joining Manchester City from Borussia Dortmund in 2022. He has won the Golden Boot in both his campaigns so far, scoring 36 and 27 goals, respectively. Having already netted seven in the first three games of this campaign, a historic three-peat of the Golden Boot is not out of the question.
This was never an individual milestone of a hat-trick against West Ham by Erling Haaland; it propelled Manchester City to another record-what with 43 hat-tricks since 1992, they overtake Liverpool as the most prolific hat-trick scorers in the Premier League.
Two Edges of a Sword: Feast of Goals but Locker Room Grievances?
The form of Haaland – hat-tricks seemingly at will – sees the records tumble, and maybe bringing an improbable anxiety in the Manchester City dressing room. His post-match ritual, whereby a message is written on the match ball by his teammates, has taken on a more interesting slant.
The Ipswich win – “I’m sick of writing these matchballs,” a team-mate had jotted, seemingly playfully, suggesting an impatient tinge. The notation following the West Ham victory was far more direct. “F*** off.”
These messages, though most likely given as a joke, do hint at one negative effect of Haaland’s dominance: even though teammates will no doubt relish celebrating future hat-tricks, the need to personalize the match ball each time might be causing just a little good-natured grumbling.
