Erling Braut Haaland has joined an exclusive group after scoring another hat-trick in Manchester City's 6-0 rout of Burnley in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Saturday evening.
Just five days after scoring five goals and breaking a 94-year City scoring record in a 7-0 Champions League victory over RB Leipzig, the Norwegian netted three more goals against Vincent Kompany's Clarets side at the Etihad Stadium.
Julian Alvarez (2) and Cole Palmer also got their names on the scoresheet to help the Citizens book their place at Wembley for a fifth successive FA Cup semi-final.
Haaland poked home his 40th goal of the campaign to open the scoring in the 32nd minute before meeting a Phil Foden cross to double City's advantage just two minutes later.
City's No.9 then completed his sixth hat-trick of the season on the 59-minute mark, tucking away a first-time finish inside the area after Foden had struck the base of the post.
Not another one?! ⚽️
— Manchester City (@ManCity) March 18, 2023
🔵 6-0 🟣 #ManCity pic.twitter.com/6bez0xcgtr
Haaland has now scored eight goals in his last two games and has increased his remarkable goal tally across all competitions to 42 after just 37 games in his debut season at the Etihad Stadium.
In doing so, Haaland has become just the sixth Premier League player in history to score at least 40 goals across all tournaments in a single season.
Ruud van Nistelrooy and Mohamed Salah (44) currently share the all-time record, while Haaland now sits just two goals further back along with Cristiano Ronaldo (42) – Harry Kane and Andy Cole (41) complete the list of six.
Haaland will certainly fancy his chances of breaking the all-time record, considering that Pep Guardiola's side could have as many as 18 games still to play this season if they reach the finals of both the FA Cup and Champions League.
After walking away with yet another match ball, the 22-year-old has expressed his "love" for scoring goals and has urged his City teammates to continue performing at their best if they wish to finish the campaign on a high.
© Reuters
Asked whether he has set a personal goals target for this season, Haaland told BBC Sport: "No, I have not. I'm a striker, I love to score goals, but my focus is not on scoring goals but on getting the chances. If I get the chances, there's a good chance I'll score."
The Norwegian added: "It's been a good couple of games – important games. 7-0 and 6-0 before the national team break is impressive. I'm really happy.
"Every goal for the team means a lot. It's an amazing win against a really good Burnley side. I'm really happy and our next game is at Wembley.
"I think we're in the part of the season where we should be at our best. Of course we should be at our best all the time, but we have to perform every single game. The last couple of games have been finals – that's exactly what we've been doing."
Haaland will represent Norway during the international break later this month before returning to Man City ahead of a mouth-watering Premier League fixture against Liverpool at the Etihad on April 1.
Oliver Thomas
