Record-breaking Haaland lifts Man City past Brentford

Erling Haaland is scoring at a pace never seen before in the Premier League.

The Norwegian striker continued his torrid start to the 2024-25 season Saturday, scoring a brace to lift Manchester City to a 2-1 victory over Brentford at the Etihad Stadium.

By helping Manchester City maintain their perfect start to the season, the 24-year-old became the first player to record nine goals in the first four games of any Premier League season.

The record was previously held by Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney, who scored eight goals in the first four games of the 2011-12 season.

Haaland had another record in his sights Saturday but fell one goal short of becoming the first player since 1946 to score a hat-trick three games in a row.

His first goal of the day helped quell fears of a Brentford upset after the visitors opened the scoring 22 seconds into the match. After Yoane Wissa's early goal, Brentford had a handful of chances to add to their lead before the Norwegian striker rifled in a shot from inside the box in the 19th minute to bring City level.

It was a deflating goal for a Brentford side that went behind 13 minutes later.

Haaland, whose availability before the game was uncertain after the death of a close family friend, put City ahead after getting on the end of Ederson's clearance and cleverly distanced himself from Ethan Pinnock to score what ended up being the winning goal.

Chances were limited in the second half for Haaland, but he nearly scored his historic hat-trick with a powerful shot that smacked off the post.

His nine goals are more than any other team in the Premier League has scored this season. Liverpool and Chelsea are the closest, scoring seven goals each.

The victory keeps Manchester City in first place with 12 points after four games.