Erling Haaland named Premier League Player of the Month after sensational start at Man City

Erling Haaland has been named Premier League Player of the Month for August 2022.

The Manchester City striker collected the prize during his first month in the English top flight, beating off competition from Pascal Gross, Gabriel Jesus, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Martin Odegaard, Nick Pope, Rodrigo Moreno and Wilfried Zaha.

Haaland netted a remarkable nine goals from his opening five Premier League matches, including back-to-back hat-tricks.

The Norwegian began by scoring a brace against West Ham United on the opening weekend of the season, before he failed to find the back of the net in a 4-0 win over Bournemouth, his only league blank of August, although he did provide an assist in the game.

Haaland responded with a crucial strike at St James’ Park the following week as City played out a pulsating 3-3 draw with Newcastle United.

The former Borussia Dortmund grabbed a first hat-trick as City came from two goals behind to beat Crystal Palace 4-2 on 27 September and then four days later the 22-year-old scored a first-half treble in a 6-0 win over Nottingham Forest.

“I am delighted to win this award for the first time – it was an incredible start of the season for the team and I am grateful to everyone who voted,” Haaland said upn winning the award.

“We all wanted to hit the ground running this season, so winning four games out of five was a great start for us in what is the most challenging competition in the world. I am happy to have played my part by scoring goals.

“What’s important is the result and to help the team. Hopefully, I can continue to support the team, make our fans happy with our performances and carry on our strong start to the season.”

Haaland also began September with a goal against Aston Villa, while he also scored three in two Champions League appearances, leaving the forward on 13 goals from his first nine City games.