Haaland celebrated three hat tricks in one day on Saturday with Manchester City against Fulham (5:1), Son for Tottenham against Burnley (5:2) and Ferguson with Brighton against Newcastle (3:1).
The smiles of the scorers contrasted with the grimace of Chelsea, who were beaten 1-0 at home to Nottingham Forest, a second defeat this season that contrasts with their XXL recruitment this summer.
It’s “business as usual” for Manchester City. Business continues for the Mancunian Armada, with Belgian winger Jérémy Doku on board for the first time. They claimed their fourth win in four Premier League games, a feat only they have achieved since the restart.
Julian Alvarez (31st), Nathan Aké (45th+5) and, above all, a hat trick from Erling Haaland (58th, 70th, 90th+5) provided the light. The Norwegian striker is now credited with six Premier League goals in four games, matching his outstanding performances last year.
“I’m back. No problem for me, I’m always hungry. It’s a new season and I’m ready for it,” commented Haaland.
Ferguson started
The offensive power of Tottenham, the enforcers of Burnley (5:2) on Saturday, is also impressive at the start of the season. Despite the departure of their star scorer Harry Kane, Spurs have averaged 2.75 goals per game in the league.
So the transplant seems to be in full swing around new coach Ange Postecoglou, well supported by South Korean striker Son Heung-min, the new captain, who shone with a hat-trick (16th, 63rd, 66th).
Tottenham are second with ten points and are joined on the podium by Manchester City (1st, 12 points) and West Ham (3rd, 10 points).
Close behind, Brighton (4th, 9 points) keeps up with the big names and gets a little lesson for the ambitious Newcastle as a bonus.
Although Roberto de Zerbi’s ‘Seagulls’ have been deprived of their driving forces this summer (Robert Sanchez, Moises Caicedo, Alexis Mac Allister…), they still have the wind in their sails.
On Saturday they were carried like a racing car by their “prodigy” Evan Ferguson ((27th, 65th, 70th), 18 years old), before they took on the French team next Thursday at the Parc des Princes with the Republic of France Ireland in qualification for Euro 2024.
Chelsea comes eleventh
For Chelsea, however, the arrival of Nottingham Forest went badly and the “Blues” are already far from the top with four small points in eleventh place.
The contrast with their flashy recruitment over the summer is bound to be striking and is designed to reinvigorate a team traumatized by last season’s wretchedness, which saw them finish in the second half of the table.
In the game, Mauricio Pochettino’s team offers attractive sequences, quick transitions and delicious technical gestures. But the well-oiled mechanics fail when it comes to counting points.
Nicolas Jackson’s big miss in the 83rd minute (a rebound that flew over the goal) summed up Chelsea’s failed Saturday.
“Today we created chances and dominated the game, but we weren’t determined enough in the final third of the pitch. If you want to win, you have to score points. “I’m not frustrated, I’m disappointed,” Pochettino commented at a press conference.
Conversely, Nottingham Forest were full of realism in front of Robert Sanchez’s cage. When he replaced the injured Brazilian Danilo before the break, newcomer Anthony Elanga (ex-Manchester United) deceived the Spanish goalkeeper by calmly opening his foot like Thierry Henry (48th, 1-0).
At the beginning of the afternoon, Sheffield and Everton (2:2) scored their first point of the season against each other. Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford was unlucky before half-time with a gag goal (the ball hit the post and bounced off his back), his first “CSC” in 252 Premier League games, and then made a double save in the 99th minute heroic.
Brentford and Bournemouth left with the same result.