Manchester,
Saturday, 4 May, 2024
Having scored a hat-trick at home against Wolverhampton Wanderers last season, Erling Haaland went one goal better to help Manchester City earn a 5-1 win in the Premier League (PL).
The Citizens immediately went out on the front foot and soon had a penalty when Rayan Aït-Nouri was adjudged to have fouled Joško Gvardiol as he fired over.
Haaland stepped up and coolly sent José Sá the wrong way to score in back-to-back games since returning from injury and establish the lead just 12 minutes into proceedings.
It wasn’t long until the striker rose well to reach Bernardo Silva’s cross, although his header was impressively denied by an outstretched hand from Sá.
A period of complete control followed for the hosts, but Wolves eventually got on the ball and began to ask questions of their own with Nathan Aké and Ederson making important interventions to stop dangerous crosses.
The visitors were still losing the ball in their own half and Haaland dealt their punishment in the 35th minute, giving Sá no chance as he leapt above Max Kilman to head Rodri’s delightful cross into the bottom corner.
There was a slight delay to Haaland’s hat-trick as Nélson Semedo raced back to challenge him, but another penalty was given and converted as the Norwegian scored his 21st career hat-trick.
Jean-Ricner Bellegarde was introduced at the break and quickly made an impact with a cross that Hwang Hee-chan converted after Ederson had misjudged it.
The goalkeeper responded almost immediately with a pass for Foden, who found Haaland for the striker to get the better of Kilman and clinically score his 25th PL goal of the season.
Sá looked exasperated after as he tipped over another Haaland shot on the hour mark before Boubacar Traoré and João Gomes received bookings in quick succession as Wolves fought to keep the score down.
Julián Álvarez replaced Haaland and joined him on the scoresheet just three minutes later, as Man City set a club record of 43 home games unbeaten across all competitions.
Even so, the statistic they will focus on most is being one point behind Arsenal with a game in hand as they search for a fourth consecutive PL title. The Citizens also extended Wolves’ winless run on the road to five matches.