CNN
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Erling Haaland, known for adapting to a difficult league, is going to the Premier League like a duck to water.
After scoring his first hat-trick for Manchester City at the weekend – in a 4-2 win over Crystal Palace – after joining from Borussia Dortmund in the summer, Haaland repeated the feat on Wednesday night.
The Norwegian striker needed just 26 minutes between his first and third first-half goal to complete the feat as City celebrated a 6-0 win over newly promoted Nottingham Forest at the Etihad Stadium.
That means Haaland has now scored a remarkable nine goals in his first five Premier League games, beating the previous record of eight goals set by Mick Quinn and City’s all-time top scorer Sergio Aguero.
Afterward, Haaland saluted his teammates and the influence they had on his game, calling the team’s performance “amazing”.
“It was about continuing what we did against Crystal Palace in the second half,” he said.
“Play, play, play and we knew we were going to get the chances and we did. It was nice. So far it’s been good, I’m not complaining!
“I try to listen to Pep as much as possible [Guardiola] and the boys. They are great footballers, I can’t score goals without them. It’s about finding the chemistry and listening to Guardiola.
“It’s fantastic. That’s why I came here. We play so well, we find each other, it’s going to be nice.”
After the game, manager Pep Guardiola was asked if Haaland could break Agüero’s club record of 260 goals.
“Sergio is the legend. Nobody can break the position in the hearts of City fans and score the most important goal in the club’s modern history,” said Guardiola.
“Erling has the quality to be there. What Sergio has achieved is amazing. But Erling has this talent. Hopefully he can have fun and score more goals. Knowing him a bit, I don’t know if he would like to break records if we weren’t winning titles.”
Alongside Haaland’s recklessness in front of goal, the evening will be remembered for a breakout game for another City forward.
After Haaland’s quick hat-trick and João Cancelo’s first goal of the season, everything revolved around Julián Álvarez’s coming-out party.
The Argentinian striker, making his first Premier League start since joining from River Plate, scored twice against Forest; First, he shot deep under goaltender Dean Henderson, then hit his second home in the final minutes.
After the game, Guardiola was full of praise for his two new signings in attack, calling Álvarez “special”.
“I felt like there wasn’t a single person in the dressing room who wasn’t happy about the two goals (he scored). Erling is highlighted, Erling deserves everything,” said Guardiola.
“But from day one we saw Julián in the dressing room and training. We have an incredible opinion (of him). Our scout in South America – Joan Patsy – told me a year and a half ago – this guy is special. He’s scored a lot of goals in a team like River Plate that’s under incredible pressure to win.
“He was trained by Gallardo and now we enjoy him. Erling is our first No9 but in games where teams defend deep it’s so important to have the two guys with an incredible smell to score goals. Julian deserves everything. The work ethic always pays off.
“Julián came from Argentina, but in the first game against Club America I said that this guy will be good for us. We saw in training how he’s doing. In the first half (today) he struggled; The second half was better and you saw the goals.
“He’s so precise. Both he and Erling are incredible strikers. When the ball is in the box they are incredible finishers.”