Erling Haaland bagged his fourth hat-trick in the Premier League as Manchester City kept the pressure on Arsenal with a 3-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Premier League
Result: Manchester City 3-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Date: 22 January 2023
Venue: Etihad Stadium
Kevin de Bruyne was recalled to the starting line-up after being benched for the entire game against Tottenham Hotspur, while Aymeric Laporte replaced Nathan Ake in the defence.
Pep Guardiola's charges dominated in the early stages but had to wait until the 18th minute for their first chance, with Erling Haaland forcing a fine save out of Jose Sa.
Wolves were happy to sit back and soak up the pressure in the first half, although they were unable to find any joy on the counter attack.
The Citizens got the breakthrough five minutes before the break when Riyad Mahrez teed up Kevin Bruyne who sent a fine cross into the box where Haaland was on hand to head home.
City nearly grabbed a second goal five minutes later as Jack Grealish cut in from the left flank and saw his strike cleared off the line by Nathan Collins.
The hosts carried that momentum into the second half and were awarded a penalty five minutes after Ruben Neves' foul on Ilkay Gundogan. Haaland stepped up and calmly converted past Jose Sa.
The hat-trick goal would arrive in the 54th minute as a poor pass from Jose Sa landed straight at the feet of Mahrez who teed up Haaland for the close-range finish.
The Norwegian striker has now scored four league hat-tricks in 19 appearances, breaking Ruud van Nistelrooy's record of four hat-trick in his first 65 appearances.
With City comfortably leading, Guardiola opted to withdraw Haaland, De Bruyne and Rodri for the final 25 minutes, as Julian Alvarez, Bernardo Silva and Kalvin Phillips were introduced to see out the game.
City were able to see out the remaining stages to claim a clean sheet along with the win, with side now sitting two points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal who face Manchester United on Sunday evening.
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