Erling Haaland was the hero for Man City once again, scoring his first Premier League hattrick to rescue the Champions against Crystal Palace at the Etihad Stadium.
Pep Guardiola’s side was in trouble to start the game, falling two goals behind in what is quickly becoming a pattern. An own goal by John Stones in just the 4th minute put the visitors ahead before Joachim Andersen doubled their lead in the 21st minute from another Eberechi Eze assist.
Despite dominating possession City failed to create any openings and went into the break looking for answers. But just like last week, City responded like champions and quickly got on the scoresheet through Bernardo Silva to cut the deficit in half.
Haaland then levelled the scoreline for Man City in the 62nd minute, finding space between Crystal Palace defenders and nodding in a Phil Foden cross. With the tide turning, the Norweigian put his team in front in the 70th minute when the Blues caught Palace lacking from a corner to tap the ball home from close range.
The goal machine completed his hat trick in the 81st bullying defenders to slot the ball home and put the game to bed.
The win takes City to 10 points from their opening four games of the Premier League season and top of the table momentarily.
Meanwhile, Liverpool got their first win of the season in imperious fashion to bounce right back into form after their worst start to a season under Klopp.
Luis Díaz (2) Harvey Elliott, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Roberto Firmino (2), Virgil van Dijk, Chris Mepham ( OG), and Fabio Carvalho all were on the scoresheet as the Reds equalled Premier Leagues’ biggest win margin with a 9-0 thrashing of Bournemouth.
In other results, Chelsea beat Leicester 2-1 despite going down to 10 men with Raheem Sterling scoring both the goals.
Earlier in the day, Manchester United ended their away wins drought with a narrow 1-0 win over Southampton to get their season on track.
