MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Erling Haaland scored a hat trick for the second straight game as Manchester City thrashed Nottingham Forest 6-0 in the Premier League on Wednesday.
All of the Norway striker’s goals came in the first half at Etihad Stadium, before Joao Cancelo scored a fourth and Julian Alvarez added two more — his first goals for City since his offseason arrival from River Plate — in the second half in the champions’ fourth win in five games of their title defense.
Haaland’s three goals against Crystal Palace on Saturday came in a 19-minute burst in the second half and he did all his damage against Forest in the space of 26 minutes before halftime, taking his record to a league-leading nine goals.
Haaland outmuscled his marker to poke home a cross from Phil Foden in the 12th minute and then tapped into an unguarded net in the 23rd after Foden was tackled by Neco Williams just as the winger was about to shoot. By that point, Haaland had only had four touches of the ball.
His hat-trick goal came in the 38th and again it was from close range when he nodded home from a central position after John Stones headed the ball back across the face of goal.
Cancelo scored the best goal of the night, smashing a rising shot high into the net from outside the area in the 50th minute and City manager Pep Guardiola was again punching the air when Alvarez, making his first start for City, ran onto Riyad Mahrez’s pass and slipped a finish between goalkeeper Dean Henderson’s legs.
Alvarez compounded Forest's misery by firing a shot in off the underside of the crossbar in the 87th at the end of a counterattack.
City has scored 19 goals in its five games, the most in the league.
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