'No words': Haaland hits 8th EPL hat-trick as Man City extend 100% record

LONDON (AP) — At the rate Erling Haaland is scoring, keeping up with Manchester City is going to be a difficult task in the English Premier League.

So while it's still only three games into the season, it felt significant when title rival Arsenal dropped points on Saturday and then saw City take full advantage thanks to another hat trick from Haaland.

The Norway striker netted his second treble in two games as City beat West Ham 3-1 to maintain its perfect start and move two points ahead of Arsenal, which was held 1-1 by Brighton after Declan Rice was sent off early in the second half.

"No words for him," City manager Pep Guardiola said about Haaland, who has seven goals in three games to start the season and 70 in total in the 69 league games he has played for the club.

With eight Premier League hat tricks, Haaland has as many as Thierry Henry (258 games), Harry Kane (320) and Michael Owen (326) managed in their careers.

This was his first away from Etihad Stadium, though, and showed his wide range of finishing skills.

The opener came when he ran onto a pass from Bernardo Silva and beat goalkeeper Alphonse Areola with a low shot. After an own goal from Ruben Dias, Haaland made it 2-1 when he received a pass inside the area and hit a thumping strike into the roof of the net in the 30th minute. The hat trick was complete in the 83rd when he went clear through on goal and lifted the ball past Lukasz Fabianski, who replaced Areola at halftime.

"I really liked the second goal, I have to be honest," Haaland said. "The second one was lovely. … I like to shoot a bit hard sometimes, as well. Not only easy shots. So it's good to get a little bit of power out of my body."

While there's another 35 games left, Haaland's prolific form makes any small gap to City look tough to overcome.