Man City beats West Ham, back to back hat-tricks for Haaland

London, September 1 — Erling Haaland continued his superb start to the season by hitting back-to-back hat-tricks as defending champions Manchester City beat West Ham United at London Stadium.

The Norway striker struck twice in the first half and added a third late on to take his tally to seven goals in three games and maintain City's 100% start to the campaign.

Haaland slid in a 10th-minute opener after receiving a pass from Bernardo Silva, but West Ham drew level when Ruben Dias turned Jarrod Bowen's cross into his own net.

Haaland restored City's lead midway through the first half, driving a fierce strike into the roof of the net.

The Hammers had struggled to get a foothold in the game but hit the woodwork early in the second half through Mohammed Kudus following a quick break.

That chance sparked them into life and for a significant period they had their opponents on the back foot.

But they did not threaten Ederson enough and Haaland - quiet for much of the second half - beat the offside trap late on to get his and City's third.

The win means Pep Guardiola's side are already top of the table in the early stages of this season while West Ham are 14th with three points from three games.

Haaland hungrier than ever

Haaland scored an incredible 36 league goals in his first season in English football two seasons ago and the early signs indicate he could record a similar tally this term.

Having had the summer off as a result of Norway not qualifying for Euro 2024, he has come into this campaign looking fresh and hungry.

He scored a hat-trick as Manchester City thrashed Ipswich in their previous league outing and continued his deadly form in front of goal into this game.

After 30 minutes he had only touched the ball six times but scored from two of them.

Then, in the second half, he was practically anonymous as West Ham raised their game until racing onto Matheus Nunes' fine through-ball to wrap up the win.

His seven goals means he has outscored every team in the Premier League on his own so far this season.

The hat-trick is his 11th for Manchester City and continues his charge towards a century of league goals for the club as he reached the 70 mark from just 69 games.

West Ham's second-half revival

Such was Manchester City's dominance in the first half, it looked like this would be a routine win for the reigning champions.

But West Ham put up a real fight in the second half and while the outcome was ultimately a defeat, their performance after the break will be further encouragement to Hammers fans after a decent start to the season.

Kudus and Bowen in particular caused the visiting defence problems on a number of occasions but the Hammers could not find a second equaliser while they were on top.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka had a solid game in defence and the new depth to the Hammers' squad was shown when they could bring on two more talented summer signings - Niclas Fullkrug and Crysencio Summerville - as they pushed for a second goal.

The Hammers could not make their dominant spell count and Haaland's clinical finishing ended their hopes of them snatching a point - but the post-David Moyes era is showing signs of promise.