Manchester City kept the pressure on Arsenal with an excellent 5-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.
Having watched the Gunners swot aside Bournemouth earlier in the day, City knew a slip-up would hand their rivals the title initiative. But an unlikely upset never looked remotely possible due to another ruthless display from Erling Haaland, who scored four to ensure City held a commanding position throughout the eveing.
The Norwegian, starting a league game for the first time in three weeks, netted from the spot in the 12th minute after Rayan Ait-Nouri collided with Josko Gvardiol in the box and a penalty was awarded.
A second looked almost certain when he connected with a Bernardo Silva cross into the box, and headed low towards the bottom corner. But somehow, Jose Sa got a big hand to the ball and clawed it out.
Yet the Portuguese keeper could do nothing when Haaland again met the ball in the air from Rodri’s 35th minute cross, and this time it flew past Sa and into the net.
This was City at their slick, dominant best and Wolves couldn’t cope with the intensity of the champions’ play. It was no surprise when a third came, nor was the goalscorer. This time Haaland won the penalty when he was clipped en route to goal by Nelson Semedo. After a quick pitch-side check, Craig Pawson pointed to the spot and Haaland did the rest.
City’s no.9 became just the third player to net two first-half hat-tricks in the Premier League and he wasn’t done for the afternoon. But before Haaland could grab a fourth, though, Wolves scored themselves. Seven minutes into the second half Hwange Hee-chan had a straightforward tap-in at the back post after Ederson came for the ball but only succeeded in palming it into the Wolves forward’s path.
A minute later and Haaland restored the three-goal lead with one of the best goals the Etihad will witness this season. Phil Foden picked out the striker midway inside his own half and he controlled, advanced forward and then curled an outrageous effort into the far corner.
This was very much the Erling Haaland show and Sa denied him a fifth soon after, while the Wolves stopper also kept out Mateo Kovacic’s half-volley.
But the game’s intensity unsurprisingly waned in the latter stages, especially after both sides made wholesale changes. There was time for one last moment of action when Rodri fed Julian Alvarez, who powered forward and fired a low-left-footed drive into the net to finish off the scoring.
Here’s how we rated City’s players...
1. Ederson- 5
Handed Wolves a second half goal when he flapped at a cross from the right wing. It was one of the few bits of action in a quiet evening.
2. Kyle Walker- 6
Dealt comfortably with everything down the City right and it was a much improved display from last week at Nottingham Forest.
3. Manuel Akanji- 8
Commanding at centre-back, both in and out of possession. It was a gamewhere the Swiss centre-back had little to deal with defensively.
4. Nathan Ake- 7 (off 69)
Another good display from the Dutchman, who also got on the ball and advanced forward on a few occasions.