Goal machine Haaland bags another brace as City shine

Earlier this week Erling Haaland had dressed up as the Joker to go out on the streets of Manchester for Halloween.

- RICHARD JOLLY AT THE ETIHAD

At the weekend, he donned the garb of a Manchester City striker to go out on the Etihad Stadium pitch. It is a moot point which is the scarier sight.

Bournemouth’s petrified defence could be forgiven for thinking it was Haaland in a sky blue No 9 shirt. They may have been scarred by a footballer who is bigger and quicker than everyone else galloping away. Not that Haaland subjected them to special punishment. It was simply that, for the fourth consecutive league game at the Etihad Stadium, he struck twice.

Bournemouth kicked off unbeaten since the opening day of the season and as Arsenal’s closest challengers. By the time Haaland had finished, they had ceded that status to City. If the league table may be taking shape after 10 games, the scoring charts certainly are. Haaland’s dominance is such that he has more than twice as many goals as anyone else. Indeed, City are the Premier League’s most prolific side, though only one of their players has more than one goal in the division this season. Haaland, though, became the third player to score at least two goals in four straight home Premier League appearances, after Robbie Fowler and Luis Suarez.