EPL PIX: Haaland hits second hat-trick of week

Haaland hits second hat-trick of week as Man City trounce Burnley

IMAGE: Manchester City’s Erling Braut Haaland celebrates scoring their third goal and his hat-trick. Photograph: Jason Cairnduff/Reuters

Unstoppable Erling Haaland smashed through the 40-goal barrier in his first season at Manchester City with a hat-trick in his side’s 6-0 FA Cup quarter-final rout of Burnley on Saturday.

Fresh from his five-goal salvo against RB Leipzig in midweek, the Norwegian forward proved insatiable again to demolish the Championship leaders at The Etihad Stadium.

The 22-year-old struck trademark goals in the 32nd and 35th minutes and completed his sixth hat-trick of the season when he converted a rebound to finish the tie just before the hour.

He now has an astonishing 42 goals for City since joining from Borussia Dortmund last June.

Julian Alvarez then struck twice with a goal by substitute Cole Palmer in between as City ran riot to make it 13 goals in the week to cruise into the semi-finals.

It proved a chastening day for former City hero Vincent Kompany who has guided Burnley to the brink of a fast return to the Premier League after last year’s relegation.

Haaland is just the sixth player in the Premier League era to score at least 40 goals in all competitions in a season — joining Ruud van Nistelrooy (44), Mohamed Salah (44), Cristiano Ronaldo (42), Andy Cole (41) and Harry Kane (41).

And with City still in three competitions it surely will not be long before he goes past 50.

“He might get 50 goals, maybe even 60. It’s bonkers,” Premier League record goalscorer Alan Shearer said in the BBC’s Match of the Day Live studio.

“Haaland is a beast. He is a goalscoring machine. He lives and breathes goals.”

Haaland was more low-key about his extraordinary statistics.

“It’s been a good couple of last games,” an under-stated Haaland, who scored his first goals in the FA Cup, told BBC Sport. “7-0 and 6-0 before the international break is impressive and I’m really happy.

“Every goal means a lot to me and every goal for the team means a lot.”

Burnley had actually coped well with City for the opening half an hour and created some decent chances.

But once Haaland sped on to Alvarez’s through pass and touched the ball past Burnley’s onrushing Bailey Peacock-Farrell to break the deadlock the writing was on the wall.

Phil Foden’s low cross set up Haaland’s second goal and his hat-trick goal came after Foden’s effort struck the post.

Alvarez also impressed and he took his goals superbly while youngster Palmer’s goal made it a most satisfying day for a City side who suddenly look back to their best.

The three other FA Cup sixth-round ties take place on Sunday with Manchester United at home to Fulham, Sheffield United hosting Blackburn Rovers and Brighton and Hove Albion welcoming fourth-tier survivors Grimsby Town.

Tottenham squander points in top-four race, Leeds out of bottom three

IMAGE: Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane scores their second goal. Photograph: Paul Childs/Reuters

Tottenham Hotspur’s hopes of a top-four finish in the Premier League suffered a dent as Southampton earned a last-gasp 3-3 home draw with a James Ward-Prowse penalty that would have been cheered in Newcastle on Saturday.

Antonio Conte’s side looked set to move into third place as goals by Harry Kane and Ivan Perisic put them 3-1 ahead with around 15 minutes of normal time left on the clock.

But bottom club Southampton battled back to salvage a point in their quest to beat the drop — a comeback that led to Tottenham manager Antonio Conte accusing his player of being selfish and lacking team spirit.

A big day at the foot of the table saw Leeds United move out of the relegation zone with a 4-2 victory at fellow-strugglers Wolverhampton Wanderers while second-from-bottom Bournemouth came down to earth after last week’s defeat of Liverpool as they went down 3-0 at Aston Villa.

Leicester City snapped a run of four consecutive league defeats to draw 1-1 at Brentford while Everton equalised late on to grab a 2-2 draw away to Chelsea in the late kickoff.

Fourth-placed Tottenham have 49 points from 28 games with Newcastle United, who benefitted from a stoppage-time penalty to beat Nottingham Forest on Friday, have 47 points having played two games less.

At the bottom, Southampton have 23 points from 28 games. Bournemouth on 24 from 27 along with West Ham United who dropped into the relegation zone courtesy of Leeds United’s impressive win at Wolves. Leicester have 25 points with Nottingham Forest, Everton and Leeds all on 26 and Wolves and Crystal Palace on 27.

Palace play leaders Arsenal on Sunday with Arsenal seeking to open an eight-point lead.

Tottenham’s failure to win at bottom club Southampton may prove the final straw in the Conte era.

Without playing that well they were in control thanks to Kane and Perisic but allowed Theo Walcott to score his first goal for two years to make it 3-2.

Tottenham substitute Pape Sarr was then adjudged in the 90th minute to have fouled Ainsley Maitland-Niles as he attempted to hack clear a bouncing ball and Ward-Prowse made no mistake to earn his side a point.

“I see selfish players, I see players that don’t want to help each other and don’t put their heart,” Conte said.

Leeds will head into the international break above the relegation zone thanks to a superb display at Wolves.

Jack Harrison smashed home the opener for Leeds from near the penalty spot in the sixth minute and Luke Ayling doubled the lead from a corner early in the second half.

Leeds substitute Rasmus Kristensen made it 3-0 before the hour mark but Wolves hit back with goals by Jonny and Matheus Cunha before Jonny was red-carded for a dangerous tackle on Ayling. Rodrigo chipped Wolves keeper Jose Sa to seal the points and Wolves were handed another red card when unused substitute Matheus Nunes was dismissed for arguing.

Harvey Barnes netted a superb second-half equaliser to earn Leicester their point at Brentford who had Shandon Baptiste sent off in the closing stages.

Brentford, dreaming of a European qualification spot, had gone ahead in the 32nd minute through Danish midfielder Mathias Jensen’s deflected drive.

Chelsea were on course for their third successive league win thanks to goals by Joao Felix and Kai Havertz’s penalty after Everton’s Abdoulaye Doucoure had equalised.

But an 89th-minute strike from substitute Ellis Simms sealed a crucial point for Sean Dyche’s team to leave Chelsea in 10th place in the table.

“A very, very clear and bloody-minded performance and I’m pleased with that,” Dyche said.

Chelsea’s Potter frustrated by his defence in Everton draw

IMAGE: Everton’s James Tarkowski fouls Chelsea’s Reece James to concede a penalty. Photograph: Hannah Mckay/Reuters

Chelsea coach Graham Potter was left to rue poor defending that cost his side two points in a 2-2 draw at home to Everton on Saturday that set back the Blues’ revival from their dramatic slump in form.

Chelsea created a string of chances but failed to convert before the break. They seemed to be on their way to another three points when they went 1-0 in the 52nd minute when on-loan Portugal winger Joao Felix’s shot hit a post and went in.

But Everton equalised 17 minutes later when Abdoulaye Doucoure headed home after a corner that was headed back across the Chelsea box by James Tarkowski.

Then, with Chelsea back in front after a Kai Havertz penalty made it 2-1, Everton substitute Ellis Simms took advantage of space in the 89th minute to hold off Kalidou Kouibaly and blast a shot past Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.

“Ultimately, the first goal is really disappointing from a set-piece perspective. We talked about that before the game. And then the second goal, we haven’t attacked well enough and then exposed ourselves to a big space to defend and we haven’t done it well enough,” Potter said.

“When you look at how much we put into the game, how much we tried to attack, to be cheap with the goals we conceded is frustrating,” he said.

The draw left Chelsea in 10th spot in the Premier League, 11 points adrift of Tottenham Hotspur in the fourth of the top four Champions League qualifying spots, although they have played a game less than their North London rivals.

Potter said he was encouraged by the overall performance despite the setbacks of the two Everton equalisers.

“I think results-wise, it’s a step back because we wanted to win. But performance-wise it’s step forward. There was a lot good in the game. We attacked well,” he said.

Speculation was rife a month ago that Potter’s days at Stamford Bridge were numbered after a run of only two wins in 15 league matches. But three wins in a row – two in the Premier League and one in the Champions League, earning them a quarter-final against Real Madrid – had eased some of the pressure.

Potter said hoped that defender Wesley Fofana, who was substituted two minutes before Everton’s equaliser, had suffered nothing more than cramp. Fofana was named in the France senior international squad for the first time this week.