I'm back — Haaland announces his return after Hattrick against Fulham

Erling Haaland celebrates one of his numerous goals for Manchester City | Imago

I'm back — Haaland announces his return after Hattrick against Fulham

Faruq Ibrahim 19:49 - 02.09.2023

Manchester City star Erling Haaland talks about his hat-trick against Fulham.

Manchester City's ace, Erling Haaland, has announced that he has returned to top form after his hat-trick against Fulham.

The Cityzens defeated Fulham 5-1 at the Etihad Stadium, their fourth straight victory in the competition, keeping their 100 per cent record intact in their title defence bid. 

Haaland led all scorers in the Champions League with 12 goals and scored 52 goals overall, which is a Premier League club record for a player. Image Credit - Manchester City/X
Haaland led all scorers in the Champions League with 12 goals and scored 52 goals overall, which is a Premier League club record for a player. Image Credit - Manchester City/X

The match in brief

var widgetLoaderConfig = widgetLoaderConfig || { CDN_URL: 'https://widgets.sportal365.com', APP_LINK: 'desktop', API_URL: 'https://africa.football.api.sportal365.com/', API_KEY: '2f852b4de2f3a5cf3188e74b33087bb4:2c18422f8e826a7d11aeed52edb2449e', LANG: 'en', REQUEST_INTERVAL: 30, ENABLE_BET_SLIP: false, AUTHOR: false, THEME: "light", TOURNAMENT_ORDER: "pulse_nigeria", LINK_OPTIONS_V2: { 'player' : { 'url': '/football/player/{playerId}' }, 'team' : { 'url': '/football/{teamId}' }, 'tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}' }, 'match': { 'url' : '/football/match/{matchId}', 'sort': { 'criteria': 'alphabetically', 'direction': 'asc' } }, 'configuration': { 'newWindow': false }, 'standings_tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}/standings' } } }; if (!document.querySelector('script[src="https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js"]')) { window.setTimeout(function () { let scriptCss = document.createElement('link'); scriptCss.href = 'https://www.pulsesports.ng/css/sport-widgets.css?v=1668785443'; scriptCss.rel = 'stylesheet'; scriptCss.type = 'text/css'; document.body.appendChild(scriptCss); let scriptTag = document.createElement('script'); scriptTag.src = 'https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js'; scriptTag.defer = true; scriptTag.onload = function () { window.setTimeout(function () { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }, 200); }; document.head.appendChild(scriptTag); }, 0); } else { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }

Julian Alvarez gave the hosts the lead in the 31st minute, but Fulham's captain Tim Ream equalised almost immediately. 

Nathan Ake restored Manchester City's lead just before half-time, and a second-half hat-trick from the Norwegian striker Haaland, with strikes in the 38th, 70th, and 95th minutes, took the game out of the reach of the Cottagers.  

What Haaland said 

Haaland acknowledged his and Manchester City's slow start to the season, attributing it to the length of the previous campaign, where they got to the end of three competitions and won them. 

But with his hat trick, last season's Golden Boot winner announced that he is back and that he is as hungry as ever. 

 "It started a bit sloppy, but we ended in a good way. Important win, we go into the international break having won four in four. Good start to the season,” He said, per the BBC.

Haaland wins UEFA men's player of the year || Photo Credit: UEFA/X
Haaland wins UEFA men's player of the year || Photo Credit: UEFA/X
Erling Haaland with his PFA Award. (Photo Credit: Man City/X)
Erling Haaland with his PFA Award. (Photo Credit: Man City/X)

"Every year is like this at this club. We start a bit late and a bit sloppy because we play right until the last game [of every season] because we are the best club. It is how it is. We will only get better and better from here.

" I'm back. No problem for me. I am always hungry. It's a new season, and I am ready for him.

Related content