PREMIER LEAGUE
Another Haaland hat-trick: what is the Premier League record for most in a season?
Manchester City signed Erling Haaland in the summer of 2022 knowing that goals were likely to follow. And they certainly have.
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City have not been particularly used to the tag of second favourites for the Premier League title in recent years. Yes, Liverpool under Jürgen Klopp have kept the pressure up, but this season the mantle has been picked up by Mikel Arteta and Arsenal. With an unexpected cushion at the summit for the Gunners, it was important that City didn’t slip up against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday, and a return to exquisite form for their new goal machine Erling Haaland was much desired.
Oh, how he delivered.
Haaland halfway hat-trick tops Salah and Son
Last season’s Premier League golden boot was shared by Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and Tottenham’s Son Heung-min with 23 goals after the complement of 38 league games. A rather modest total, but this can sometimes happen when teams share the net-bulging around various players.
Haaland stepped out to face Wolves in matchday 20 -- the first of the second half of the season -- and levelled that overall tally in the 39th minute. He surpassed in in minute 49 before adding the icing on his own brand of goal-scoring cake four minutes later from the spot. 25 in the onion bag, 18 games still to be played.
Media outlets were fast out the blocks sharing their own comparisons.
Most hat-tricks in a Premier League season
It took former Liverpool and England striker Michael Owen 48 games to score three hat-tricks, the league’s previous record, but Haaland managed to do it in just eight games before the World Cup break. His fourth came in just 19 games. For comparison, it took Ruud van Nistelrooy, the next closest, 65 games to achieve four.
When it comes to all-time hat-tricks in the EPL, it’s former City striker Sergio Agüero who leads the way with 12, with Alan Shearer on 11 and Robbie Fowler third with nine. Newcastle legend Shearer has the overall scoring record of 260 goals.
In 1995-96, Shearer scored a record five Premier League hat-tricks for Blackburn Rovers. Harry Kane is second on the list, scoring four hat-tricks in the 2016-17 campaign. Agüero scored three hat-tricks in consecutive seasons from 2017-18 to 2018-19.
With four match balls already collected, who can tell what is ahead for the Norwegian striker?