- Erling Braut Haaland scored a hat-trick as Manchester City defeated Wolverhampton
- The Citizens secured a 3-0 win over the Wolves
- The win saw them narrow the gap to league leaders Arsenal
Erling Braut Haaland scored a hat-trick as Manchester City defeated Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-0 in the Premier League on Sunday.
The treble moves Haaland to 25 league goals for the season, and he has now scored 31 times for the Citizens in all competitions since joining from Borussia Dortmund last summer.
The result moves Pep Guardiola’s side to 45 points in the table, two points behind leaders Arsenal, who play fourth-placed Manchester United at home later this afternoon.
Wolves, meanwhile, remain in 17th place in the table following their 11th league defeat of 2022-23, with Julen Lopetegui’s side level on points with Bournemouth in 18th place.
How the game unfolded
Haaland scores a penalty against the Wolves.|PHOTO: Goal|
Man City’s first serious attempt of the match came in the 18th minute when Jack Grealish broke forward before feeding Haaland, but Jose Sa saved his effort well.
In the 29th minute, the Wolves goalkeeper was called upon again to save a long-range drive from Grealish, who was alert to the situation after a Kevin De Bruyne cross was only half-cleared.
Rodri then fired one over the crossbar of Wolves in the 33rd minute, with Man City looking the more likely to break the deadlock on a bitter afternoon in Manchester.
Guardiola’s team finally broke through in the 40th minute, with Haaland heading a brilliant De Bruyne cross past Sa to put the hosts ahead.
When Grealish went down inside the box under a challenge from Nathan Collins in the 42nd minute, Man City had a strong claim for a penalty, but the referee was uninterested, and VAR agreed with the call.
Before the end of the first period, the home side had two more chances to double their lead, but brilliant defending from Collins kept the score at 1-0, with the Wolves defender heading a Grealish effort away before blocking De Bruyne’s shot.
When Ruben Neves fouled Ilkay Gundogan in the 49th minute of the game, Man City was awarded a penalty, and Haaland stepped up to find the bottom corner of the net.
Haaland completes his hattrick
City players join Haaland in celebrating his hattrick.|PHOTO: Getty Images|
In the 54th minute, Haaland completed his hat-trick by converting a low cross from Riyad Mahrez after Sa had played the ball straight into the Algerian’s feet.
With Wolves looking to respond, Pablo Sarabia had a goal-bound strike blocked by Nathan Ake before Riyad Mahrez had a goal disallowed for offside, denying Man City a fourth.
Wolves had their chances, with Ederson needing to save a Daniel Podence strike in the 68th minute, but the visitors never threatened to make it an uncomfortable ending for the champions.
Sa had to make a smart save to deny Julian Alvarez, who came on for Haaland just after the hour, a fourth goal for Man City in the 73rd minute before Gundogan nodded wide of the Wolves’ post 10 minutes from time.
Two minutes later, Podence fired one just wide of Ederson’s goal down the other end, but there was no late consolation for the visitors as Guardiola’s side maintained their clean sheet.
Man City will play Arsenal at home in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Friday night, while Wolves will look to avenge their defeat when they host Liverpool in the Premier League on February 4.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login