Erling Haaland failed to complete a third successive hat-trick as Manchester City came from behind to beat Brentford 2-1, but he still claimed another slice of Premier League history.
Haaland had to be at his best as City came from behind to fight back against an excellent performance from Thomas Frank’s men at the Etihad Stadium.
Yoan Wissa capitalised on a miscue from the kick-off to give Brentford the lead after 22 seconds – the quickest goal ever scored by a visiting team at the Etihad Stadium.
The Bees continued to cause Pep Guardiola’s reigning champions plenty of problems but Haaland showed his poacher’s instincts to intercept Kevin De Bruyne’s pass and send a deflected shot beyond Mark Flekken.
City then opted for the former, Ederson having spotted the one major flaw in Brentford’s pressing, which was excellent man-to-man. Haaland was left alone against Ethan Pinnock, the Brazilian goalkeeper sent a long ball and the striker’s strength, speed and finesse did the rest.
“For us he’s an incredible weapon,” Guardiola said after the game. “One-on-one, when you isolate him against the central defender with the quality you have with Ederson and Stefan [Ortega] for long balls. It’s a weapon that must be detonated, it must be used.
Nine goals. We’re in the first half of week four…and Erling Haaland already has NINE goals this season. ?
? Peacock | #MCIBRE pic.twitter.com/HI5LbATcLp
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) September 14, 2024
Flekken and the Brentford backline conspired to deny Haaland a third consecutive matchball on top of the two he picked up against Ipswich Town and West Ham before the international break.
However, after breaking the Premier League’s single-season goalscoring record in 2022/23, Haaland now holds the most goals after four games in the competition’s history with nine, usurping Wayne Rooney’s eight from the 2011/12 season.
“It’s unbelievable. Nine goals this season, I think that’s more than my best tally in the Premier League, and he’s done it after four games,” said Jack Grealish, whose best tally in a season was eight goals for Aston Villa in 2019/20.
“He’s an incredible player, an incredible person. He gets everything he deserves because he works so hard on and off the field.
“He’s a real machine in front of goal and I can’t say enough good things about him.”
