LONDON, Oct 8: With Manchester City easing toward another big Premier League victory, the only question still lingering an hour into the game was whether Erling Haaland would get in on the scoring.
Of course he would.
Haaland netted his 15th league goal of the season in the 65th minute to put the finishing touches on a 4-0 win over Southampton on Saturday, taking the Norway striker’s remarkable scoring streak to 10 straight games in all competitions.
The win lifts City two points ahead of Arsenal before the Gunners’ game against Liverpool on Sunday, with Pep Guardiola’s team the only Premier League team still unbeaten after nine rounds.
Haaland has been in such prolific form that going without a goal for more than 60 minutes is enough to raise eyebrows these days. His teammates were happy to fill the void, though, with Jose Cancelo and Phil Foden making it 2-0 by halftime before Riyad Mahrez netted the third in the 49th.
And after Haaland missed a couple of chances he normally puts away, he showed again that he simply cannot be contained. Cancelo pulled the ball back from the left and Haaland hammered home a first-time strike into the net for his 20th goal in just 13 games in all competitions for City. He has been held scoreless in just one match all season.
Chelsea kept up its recent momentum under Graham Potter, beating manager-less Wolverhampton 3-0 at Stamford Bridge.
American forward Cristian Pulisic made the most of a rare start by making it 2-0 in the 54th minute, after Kai Havertz had opened the scoring deep into first-half injury time. Armando Broja added the third.
Former Chelsea striker Diego Costa made his debut for Wolves but had little impact on the game before being taken off after less than an hour — getting a big ovation from the home crowd.
Newcastle climbed provisionally up to fifth place with a 5-1 win over Brentford. Newcastle was again without injured record signing Alexander Isak but he was hardly missed as its attack tore Brentford apart at times, with Bruno Guimaraes scoring twice.
Also, Bournemouth came from behind to beat Leicester 2-1 at home with its prospective new owner watching on. American businessman Bill Foley was in the stands at the Vitality Stadium amid reports that he is close to completing a takeover of the club. (AP)
