The Premier League match between Manchester City and Crystal Palace at the Etihad Stadium swayed back and forth until Norwegian striker Erling Haaland took matters into his own hands and paid off the faith Pep Guardiola showed by signing him this summer. The 22-year-old netter in thrice to hand the Cityzens a 4-2 win after trailing 0-2 until the 53rd minute.

Palace went ahead in the fourth minute of the match via a John Stones own goal. Pep Guardiola had earlier spoken of not making mistakes in the earlier parts of a match, and City ended up doing exactly that. The Eagles doubled their lead in the 24th minute when an unmarked Joachim Andersen converted a corner kick via a powerful header.

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However, the defending champions did not take the situation lying down. They kept up their relentless attacks, and soon after the Andersen goal, which Erling Haaland should have prevented, the 22-year-old Norwegian himself tried to score with an assist from Phil Foden but ended up hitting the side net.

Portuguese midfielder Bernardo Silva narrowed the gap between the two teams with a strike that entered the Palace goal after a deflection. From then on, City were in charge. Haaland quickly equalized the scoreline by converting a cross by Phil Foden. 

Haaland was at the right place at the right time for his second goal, which he scored with a tap-in after a short City corner saw Silva play a one-two with Alvarez, which was then cut back to John Stones. Haaland picked it up and scored his easiest goal of the night.

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The Man City striker found the back of the goal once again in the 81st minute, when he thumped in a goal from an Ilkay Gundogan through ball despite having two defenders on his back. After that, City manager Pep Guardiola did not take any chances and benched Etihad’s hero for the night.

City will next face Nottingham Forest, the newly promoted team, away from home in their fifth Premier League match of the season on September 1. Palace, on the other hand, will host Brentford on August 31.