In a spectacular Premier League match on Saturday, Erling Haaland secured a stunning hat-trick, leading Manchester City to a resounding 5-1 victory against Fulham.
Simultaneously, Son Heung-min mirrored this hat-trick feat, propelling Tottenham to a commanding 5-2 win over Burnley.
However, Chelsea’s massive investments in the transfer market are yet to yield results, as they suffered a 1-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest. Despite the absence of their manager Pep Guardiola, who is recuperating from back surgery, Manchester City dominated the game, although they didn’t reach their peak performance.
The home side struggled to find a shot on target until Julian Alvarez opened the scoring in the 31st minute by turning in a cross from Haaland.
Fulham responded swiftly with Tim Ream tapping in from a corner. City regained the lead through a controversial set-piece goal, with Nathan Ake’s header allowed to stand despite an offside position by Manuel Akanji.
In the second half, Haaland took centre stage, becoming the fastest player to reach 40 Premier League goals in just 39 appearances. He netted an excellent finish from Phil Foden’s assist and converted a penalty, making up for last weekend’s missed penalty. Haaland completed his hat-trick in stoppage time, tallying six goals in five games this season.
Son Shines for Spurs
Tottenham, led by manager Ange Postecoglou, continued their impressive start to the season and are now only two points behind Manchester City in the standings. Burnley initially took the lead with a goal by Lyle Foster in the fourth minute.
However, Son, who was deployed in a central role, equalized with a delicate chip before a powerful strike by Cristian Romero put Spurs ahead in first-half stoppage time.
James Maddison added a third goal with a curling finish from the edge of the box, and Son sealed his hat-trick with two quick goals in the span of three minutes.
Chelsea’s Billion-Pound Investment Falls Short
Chelsea’s extensive spending in the transfer market, which exceeded £1 billion ($1.3 billion) over just a little more than a year under the ownership consortium led by Todd Boehly, failed to yield results as they were beaten 1-0 at home by Nottingham Forest.
The only goal of the match came from Anthony Elanga three minutes into the second half, with Chelsea’s new signing Moises Caicedo involved in a costly giveaway that led to the goal. Regardless of their considerable investment, Chelsea’s lack of a natural goalscorer was again exposed.
In other matches, Bournemouth was denied their first win under Andoni Iraola in other matches as Bryan Mbuemo secured a 2-2 draw for Brentford.
Sheffield United and Everton earned their first point of the season with a thrilling 2-2 draw in the lunchtime kick-off. Cameron Archer, making his debut, and a Jordan Pickford own goal had put Sheffield United ahead after Abdoulaye Doucoure’s early opener for Everton.
Arnaut Danjuma levelled the score early in the second half, but Everton relied on Pickford’s heroics in stoppage time.
