Manchester City striker Erling Braut Haaland has broken the Premier League record for most goals scored in a player's first five games in the competition.
Haaland netted a second consecutive hat-trick within the opening 40 minutes of Man City's meeting with newly-promoted Nottingham Forest on Wednesday night, firing the champions into a commanding first-half lead.
The 22-year-old now has nine goals from his opening five Premier League games, surpassing the record previously jointly held by Micky Quinn for Coventry City and Sergio Aguero for Man City.
🐐 - Most goals in first 5 Premier League appearances
— Gracenote Live (@GracenoteLive) August 31, 2022
9 - 🇳🇴@ErlingHaaland (+3)
8 - 🏴Mick Quinn
8 - 🇦🇷Sergio Agüero
7 - 🇪🇸Diego Costa#MCINFO #ManCity
Haaland also scored twice against West Ham United on the opening weekend, once against Newcastle United and three times against Crystal Palace last time out to register his first hat-trick in English football.
The striker's back-to-back hat-tricks mean that he has now taken the matchball home in two of his first five games in the competition, setting another record in the process.
The previous record for the fewest games to score two Premier League hat-tricks was held by Demba Ba, who netted two trebles in his opening 21 English top-flight games.
🎯Fewest games to score 2 Premier League hat-tricks
— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) August 31, 2022
5⃣ ERLING HAALAND
.............................
2⃣1⃣ Demba Ba
2⃣5⃣ Tony Yeboah
2⃣5⃣ Fernando Torres
2⃣6⃣ Fabrizio Ravanelli pic.twitter.com/BQPpdsqZcK
The Norway international arrived at Man City this summer following a prolific spell at Borussia Dortmund, where he scored 86 goals in just 89 appearances across all competitions.
There had been speculation that Pep Guardiola could rest Haaland for Wednesday's match ahead of a busy period for the club, but he was named in the starting lineup and once again responded with a second hat-trick in as many games.
Prior to tonight's match, Haaland's goals had helped Man City to open their latest title defence with 10 points from a possible 12.
Barney Corkhill
