Erling Haaland scores another hat trick as Man City crushes Nottingham Forest

Haaland is making hat tricks just a thing that happens all the time

Erling Haaland is going to make scoring hat tricks boring at this rate.

Manchester City thumped Nottingham Forest 6-0 on Wednesday, with Haaland scoring three times in the first 38 minutes of the game. Haaland even managed to score one with his left foot, one with his right, and the third on a header.

Just four days earlier, Haaland had a hat trick in the second half of a 4-2 win over Crystal Palace. In his Premier League debut earlier this month, he had a brace against West Ham, and he’s now put up nine goals in five league matches since a €60 million move from Borussia Dortmund this summer. That is, per Opta, a new record for goals in a player’s first five Premier League games.

Haaland opened the scoring in the 12th minute, muscling past his marker to stab home a Phil Foden cross following a short corner.

That duo linked up again 10 minutes later after a poor Forest clearance quickly became some typically intricate one-touch passing from Man City to rip the defense open, leaving Haaland to guide a shot into an empty net.

Haaland finished the hat trick in the 38th minute as Man City began to truly show off. João Cancelo scooped a service to the back post with the outside of his foot that Foden headed back across goal to John Stones, who then nodded it to Haaland to head home from about two yards out.

Man City got one goal from Cancelo and two more from Julián Álvarez in the second half, while Pep Guardiola—presumably frustrated when Haaland went several minutes without scoring more goals—pulled the Norwegian in the 69th minute.

Watch yet another Haaland hat trick

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Liverpool star Salah wins PFA men’s player of the year award

The Egyptian joined select company by winning the award for a second time

Liverpool star Mohamed Salah has won the men’s 2021-22 Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) Player of the Year award.

It is the second time the Egypt international has won the prize voted on by current and former players, having also won in 2018.

Salah tied for the Premier League lead in goals on the year with 23 alongside Son Heung-min, as Liverpool fell just one point short of the league title.

Salah is now only the sixth male player to win the award twice, after Mark Hughes, Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry, Gareth Bale and Kevin De Bruyne.

Foden wins Young Player of the Year

For the second straight year, Manchester City star Phil Foden has been voted the PFA Young Player of the Year.

Foden joins Ryan Giggs, Robbie Fowler, Wayne Rooney and Dele Alli as players who have won the award in consecutive seasons.

The 22-year-old helped Man City win another Premier League title by contributing nine league goals.

PFA Premier League Team Of The Year

  • Alisson – Liverpool
  • Trent Alexander-Arnold – Liverpool
  • Virgil van Dijk – Liverpool
  • Antonio Rüdiger – Chelsea
  • João Cancelo – Manchester City
  • Kevin De Bruyne – Manchester City
  • Thiago Alcântara – Liverpool
  • Bernardo Silva – Manchester City
  • Sadio Mané – Liverpool
  • Cristiano Ronaldo – Manchester United
  • Mohamed Salah – Liverpool

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