If a 20-goal season is the recognized mark of success for any striker, Erling Haaland’s tally after 12 competitive appearances makes him the Jonah Lomu of football.
The 22-year-old is unstoppable, his completion rate is staggering – a Premier League goal every 50 minutes – and the fascination is where the Norwegian can take his talents over the coming seasons.
Until the 64th minute, Southampton, 3-0 down and outplayed by City, looked set to join Bournemouth and Serbia as the only teams to keep out the prolific marksman this season. But no. Kevin De Bruyne, excellent throughout, headed a ball to João Cancelo down the left and Haaland bundled it home.
The win takes City top with 23 points from nine games, with Arsenal, who play Liverpool on Sunday, second on 21.
“Being close to the top of the league is important for the World Cup,” said Pep Guardiola. “We will see the result of Arsenal and Liverpool, there are always good games in the Premier League.”
Kyle Walker’s groin injury meant a partial revival for Guardiola, who had the impressive Manuel Akanji in action at right-back, although the Swiss soon drew a manager’s mutter for a wrong pass
Ralph Hasenhüttl, who seems perpetually in danger of being offloaded, might have been pleased with the early Saints’ pressure, but it soon faded. From his familiar left, Phil Foden served the ball to Haaland – the shot was instant and right-footed, but the ball hit the right post. Cancelo then claimed a corner which De Bruyne swung in from the left but Riyad Mahrez’s effort went wide.
Cancelo, now, showed how to do it with a magnificent solo strike. Foden was flattened by Kyle Walker-Peters but clever Andy Madley allowed the game to flow. The City left-back skated in, zipped inside, sold James Ward-Prowse a double dummy and then drilled Gavin Bazunu into the far corner.
“We’ve got Guardiola,” chanted the jubilant City fans who are so used to cheering for their team. The Saints were then teased as the ball was passed around them before the Blues saw an opening and suddenly Haaland’s left-footed cannon crashed a shot past Romain Perraud from close range.
João Cancelo celebrates scoring Manchester City’s opener against Southampton Picture: Tom Flathers/Manchester City FC/Getty Images
City’s lead, however, was doubled when Mahrez fed De Bruyne and crossed to Foden down the left – as Bazunu charged in, the striker followed up his hat-trick against Manchester United in the week pass with a bit over the goalkeeper.
The half ended with Akanji’s wild effort over Bazunu’s bar, but City had calmly gone into second gear and continued to do so after the break.
A rise from De Bruyne and then one from Bernardo Silva preceded City’s third: Cancelo rolled to Rodri and from his lob on the right Mahrez volleyed – from the ground.
It made it a ninth consecutive Premier League home game of at least three goals for City and was followed by a foul from Haaland and the sight of the unhappy manager at a defensive error.
Foden, who was about to be replaced by Jack Grealish, helped create another chance for the Norwegian with quick feet that saw him break away near the left-hand corner flag and past De Bryune. When the latter crossed, Haaland only hit the air.
The 22-year-old Belgian once again put his vision in which this time headed the ball down an inside left channel. Haaland galloped forward and tried to round Bazunu, the goalkeeper stuck out a hand and took possession.
Haaland registered to the delight of player, team-mates, coach and supporters – expect to see endless replays of the act until May.
Mahrez said: “Haaland is part of our team, he is our striker. Like any other forward, if we find him it’s perfect because he’s on fire. If not, there are many [other] players and everyone can make a difference.
“It was a difficult game, we made it easy by scoring early and then we controlled it. We had many chances to score more, but we didn’t do it.”
Hasenhüttl was honest in his assessment. “Our possession was not good enough. To achieve something you need to play the perfect game. The gap is too wide. Teams come here with more quality than we have and score six goals or more,” he said.