Soccer

Erling Haaland scores three as Manchester City come from behind against Crystal Palace

Premier League round-up: Chelsea edge Leicester as Leeds beaten by Brighton

Manchester City's Erling Haaland scores against Crystal Palace at the Etihad Stadium. Photograph: PA

Sat Aug 27 2022 - 17:22

Erling Haaland struck a second half hat-trick as Manchester City came back from two goals down at the Etihad Stadium to beat Crystal Palace 4-2 in the Premier League on Saturday.

An own goal from John Stones in the fourth minute put Patrick Vieira’s Palace ahead and then the visitors doubled their lead when an unmarked Joachim Andersen powered in a header from an Eberechi Eze corner in the 21st minute.

City struggled to find their fluency but the almost inevitable comeback started in the 53rd minute when Bernardo Silva cut in from the right and his low shot took a slight deflection and beat Palace keeper Vicente Guaita.

Pep Guardiola then made a double substitution and moved Phil Foden to left-back and within a minute he had delivered a pinpoint cross which Haaland met with a fine glancing header.

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The Norwegian then turned in from close range after a clever move inspired by Silva and then saved the best for last — showing Ilkay Gundogan the pass he wanted to run on to and then holding off Joel Ward as he fired into the bottom corner.

The striker, signed from Borussia Dortmund in June, has now scored six goals in his opening four Premier League games.

[ Bruno Fernandes on target as Manchester United dig in to beat Southampton ]

Brighton & Hove Albion kept up their impressive unbeaten start to the Premier League season on Saturday with a second-half goal from German midfielder Pascal Gross sealing a 1-0 victory over Leeds United at the Amex Stadium.

Gross broke the deadlock after Brighton wasted a number of opportunities, as he ran on to a Leandro Trossard pass and slotted in his third of the campaign to seal the win, leaving the south coast side with 10 points from four games.

Leeds boss Jesse Marsch kept faith with the side that dismantled Chelsea 3-0 last week, but the visitors failed to get going against a determined Brighton who extended their streak without a league defeat to nine games going back to last season.

Brighton could have found themselves up 1-0 early in the opening period but the unmarked Adam Webster headed wide from a Gross free kick, before the hosts let Leeds off the hook again with two more opportunities.

Graham Potter’s side continued to attack immediately after the break but they failed to get a breakthrough when Solly March was played through by Gross but his shot was kept out by Leeds goalkeeper Illan Meslier.

Substitute Luis Sinisterra highlighted the lack of a cutting edge in Leeds’ attack when he missed from point-blank range and his team paid the price as Gross went on to score shortly after in the 66th minute.

Vitaly Janelt hooked in an 84th-minute equaliser to earn Brentford a 1-1 home Premier League draw against Everton in a game they largely dominated on Saturday but looked in danger of losing to a first-half goal by Chelsea target Anthony Gordon.

Everton, with just a point to their name from their opening three fixtures, had looked decidedly shaky at the back in the opening stages but took the lead after 24 minutes with a simple goal.

Coady launched a long ball over a static defence and 21-year-old Gordon, who could move to Chelsea for around £60 million in the next few days, took a touch to bring it down and then steered it calmly past David Reya.

Either side of that Brentford twice hit the post via a Mathias Jensen shot and an Ivan Toney header, with Yoane Wissa somehow volleying the rebound horribly over the bar.

Brentford, who hammered Manchester United 4-0 in their last home game, took total control in the second half as Christian Norgaard hit the bar and Jordan Pickford made some sharp saves and they eventually got the breakthrough when Keane Lewis-Potter flicked on a corner for fellow substitute Janelt to knock in from close range six minutes from time.

Raheem Sterling’s first goals for Chelsea gave the 10-man Blues a 2-1 victory over winless Leicester.

Sterling’s second-half double proved decisive at Stamford Bridge as the hosts overcame the loss of manager Thomas Tuchel and England midfielder Conor Gallagher.

Tuchel was serving a touchline ban following his touchline confrontation with Antonio Conte in the opening home match of the season against Tottenham, while Gallagher was dismissed after being penalised for two yellow card offences on Harvey Barnes.

The Blues started brightly and — after Ruben Loftus-Cheek had seen a shot saved by goalkeeper Danny Ward — they were awarded a penalty when Loftus-Cheek went down in the box.

However, referee Paul Tierney overturned his decision after Kai Havertz was adjudged to have been offside in the build-up.

The Blues were reduced to 10 men when Gallagher, booked for an early challenge on Barnes, was dismissed in the 28th minute after receiving another one for fouling the same player as the Foxes counter-attacked.

Seven minutes before the break, the visitors thought they had taken the lead when Barnes headed home, but the effort was ruled out for a foul on Blues goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.

The hosts came close to breaking the deadlock four minutes later when Reece James struck the post with an effort from Sterling’s cross, before Jamie Vardy shot wide at the other end after good work by Youri Tielemans.

A little more than a minute after the restart, Sterling broke the deadlock with a shot from the edge of the area, after being found by Marc Cucurella.

The Blues, who introduced Cesar Azpilicueta at half-time, went from four at the back to three and looked more threatening.

They doubled their lead in the 63rd minute when Sterling tapped in James’ cross at the far post, however, the Foxes had hope three minutes later when Barnes beat Mendy at his near post to pull a goal back.

Vardy fired a shot into the side-netting and Ayoze Perez came close as the visitors sought a leveller. However, Chelsea were able to hold on for their first home win of the campaign.

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