West Ham United lost 1-3 to Manchester City as Erling Haaland impresses with consecutive hat-tricks at the start of the season.

Manchester City’s Erling Haaland scored his second consecutive hat-trick as his team secured a 3-1 victory over West Ham United in the Premier League. The match took place at London Stadium on August 31, 2024.

In the first half, Manchester City dominated the game, with Haaland opening the scoring just 10 minutes into the match. Bernardo Silva provided the assist, threading the ball through to Haaland who finished with a low shot. Despite City’s dominance, West Ham managed to equalize against the run of play when Ruben Dias turned Jared Bowen’s cross into his own net.

However, Manchester City quickly regained the lead when Haaland found himself with too much space in the box and unleashed a powerful shot into the roof of the net. At halftime, West Ham made a change in goal, bringing on Lukas Fabianski for Alphonse Areola.

In the second half, Manchester City continued to dominate possession, but West Ham had a chance to equalize on a counter attack. Mohammed Kudus’s shot from a tight angle hit the post. However, Manchester City sealed their victory when Matheus Nunes played a through ball to Haaland, who timed his run perfectly and lifted the ball over the keeper to complete his hat-trick.

With this win, Manchester City maintained their unbeaten start to the season, securing their third consecutive victory in the league. On the other hand, West Ham suffered their second defeat of the season.

The talking point of the match was Erling Haaland’s incredible goal-scoring record. Since joining Manchester City from Borussia Dortmund two years ago, Haaland has averaged a goal per game, with a total of 70 goals in 69 games. Despite a long break over the summer due to Norway not qualifying for the Euros, Haaland showed no signs of rust and displayed his clinical finishing ability once again.

Erling Haaland was named the player of the match for his outstanding performance. He scored his first goal with a cool finish from Silva’s through ball, his second with a powerful shot, and completed his hat-trick with a clever finish after running behind the West Ham defense.

Player ratings for West Ham included a 5 for Areola, 6 for Wan-Bissaka, 6 for Mavropanos, 7 for Kilman, 5 for Emerson, 5 for Alvarez, 5 for Paqueta, 5 for Rodriguez, 7 for Kudus, 5 for Antonio, and 8 for Bowen. Fabianski, Coufal, Fullkrug, and Sommerville also made appearances as substitutes.

For Manchester City, Ederson received a rating of 6, Lewis a 7, Akanji a 7, Dias a 6, Gvardiol a 7, Kovacic a 6, De Bruyne a 7, Bernardo a 6, Doku a 5, Grealish a 7, and Haaland a perfect 10. Nunes, Ake, Gundogan, and Walker were listed as substitutes.

Key moments of the match included Haaland’s opening goal in the 10th minute, Dias’ own goal in the 19th minute, Haaland’s second goal in the 29th minute, Kudus hitting the woodwork in the 51st minute, and Haaland’s hat-trick goal in the 83rd minute.

A notable statistic from the match is that Haaland has now scored 6 goals in the season, adding to his impressive goal-scoring record since joining Manchester City.