Manchester City 2-0 Everton: Erling Haaland looks “super” but should others step up?

Another day, another great lesson for Erling Haaland.

There have only been three instances in which a player has reached double figures in the Premier League in his eighth appearance this season:

Erling Haaland in 2022-23

Erling Haaland in 2024-25

Erling Haaland in 2025-26

The 25-year-old’s double against Everton helped Manchester City finish second in the Premier League on Saturday, taking his tally to 11 league goals in just eight games so far this season.

Haaland remained quiet in the first half, not having a single shot on target, before coming back to life after the break with a devastating impact by heading in a Nico O’Reilly cross and turning it over to cut down Savinho.

Everton manager David Moyes has reached out to Haaland full-time, and when asked what the conversation was about, the Scot replied: “I wish he was somewhere else! Most managers would think the same way.”

He added: “I thought basically we did a really good job. But how can you say that? He scored two goals. The second goal was a bit sloppy and we didn’t give him many chances.”

“Later in the game, I gave a lot of credit to our goalkeeper, the way he defended Haaland one-on-one because we opened up the field to try and score a goal.”

Regarding his prolific striker, City coach Pep Guardiola said: “Sergio [Aguero] He scored a lot of goals with his head but Erling’s presence, his stature, is huge.

“I’m really happy, not only because of the incredible threat the opponent faces, but also [that]We found it much more so than the first half. This is really important, when you have these players you have to take advantage of them.

“Erling lives for it. Our passing delivery has been better and Erling is our main man now.”

Former England striker Alan Shearer added on the BBC’s Match of the Day programme: “If you’re building from scratch what you want as an ideal centre-forward, look at Haaland.

“He has goals, speed, strength, and he’s good in the air. He doesn’t mind getting roughed up, and it doesn’t bother him if he doesn’t get a lot of contact. He’s almost perfect.”