Despite Erling Haaland not being the technical phenom that several of his teammates are, him and Manchester City have been a match made in heaven since day one.
Haaland is a profile of forward that City have lacked for a few years — with the likes of Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling only previously being willing to run beyond defences and consistently score goals.
As a result, Haaland has already equalled Wayne Rooney in terms of scoring seven hat-tricks in his Premier League career.
Manchester City are one of the most creative teams in world football and the 24-year-old is a goalscoring machine — making them an unstoppable combination in theory as well as in practice.
The £375,000-a-week man scored one of the best hat-tricks during his time at City during their 4-1 annihilation of Ipswich Town.
The Norwegian’s penalty was well-taken while his run and finish for his second strike exemplified the star striker’s world-class movement, searing pace and calmness in front of goal.
While the contest fizzled out in the second half, Haaland’s appetite for scoring goals did not; as he rifled the ball in from outside the box — similar to his strike against Brighton & Hove Albion last season.
Haaland hails Man City star after hat-trick against Ipswich Town
Kieran McKenna’s side would presumably have spent the entire week preparing how to keep the two-time Premier League winner quiet.
However, much like the newly-promoted Nottingham Forest found out when they lost 6-0 to City in the 2022/2023 season, it takes a herculean effort to stop an in-form Haaland from bagging a hat-trick.
The Leeds-born goalscorer is a one of a kind number nine; one that they not only would not have encountered in the Championship but would not have even in some of the best leagues in the world.
The same goes for Kevin De Bruyne, who set his partner-in-crime up front with his second goal of the day and all in all, had a brilliant game.
When quizzed about how he feels about playing with the £54 million man, Haaland praised his teammate.
Speaking to Optus Sport, the former Borussia Dortmund marksman said: “Yeah, fantastic to play with him. I’ve said it many times before, that pass is so difficult and I’m happy to play with him.”
Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne remain impossible to stop
As a duo, Haaland and De Bruyne are virtually impossible to stop from scoring goals for a few reasons.
Firstly, due to their sheer quality in their respective positions.
Secondly, the pairing have a telepathic understanding of each other’s intentions on the pitch.
But thirdly and perhaps most challenging for opponents, De Bruyne and Haaland can come together to help Manchester City score a wide variety of goals.
The Belgian has virtually every final ball in his arsenal and with the latter being phenomenal positionally, athletically and as a finisher, the variety of goals that the duo can allow City to score is endless.
Such endless possibilities make it a nightmare for any defence to contend with and it seems like that will remain the case this season.
