HAALAND'S RON ANOTHER LEVEL

Erling left disappointed he missed out on a hat-trick and Dias says his appetite for goals is just like Cristiano

- BY TYRONE MARSHALL

TWO goals in five second-half minutes had long since ended this match as a contest, but a different kind of battle was waged in injury time.

It became a personal duel between Erling Haaland and the match ball, with Jordan Pickford playing a significant cameo.

Haaland had cracked open a slow-burner of a game with two goals that owed a lot to the brilliance of his movement.

And, with seven minutes added on, he suddenly decided he wanted his 12th hat-trick for Manchester City.

Three times in as many minutes, he raced in behind the Everton defence.

Twice, Pickford stopped him, and once, he forced him wide enough to make a shot impossible.

Haaland would end the game with 23 goals in 13 matches this season, but he was angry he didn't have a 24th.

For a player in the form of his life, it's a quirk that he has now gone 13 months since last scoring a hat-trick for City. On 10 occasions, he has got to two, but that third just won't come.