Pep Guardiola names Erling Haaland quality that impressed him more than Man City hat-trick

Pep Guardiola says Erling Haaland's hat-trick was no surprise in Manchester City's comeback win over Crystal Palace, and the striker earned his goals by remaining focussed during a quiet first half.

Trailing 2-0 at half time, City were re-energised in the second half, with Bernardo Silva sparking a comeback finished emphatically by Haaland's three goals. That took the striker to six goals and one assist from four Premier League outings, with his third goal particularly impressive as he held off two defenders and fired in to send the Etihad into raptures.

Speaking after the game, Guardiola hailed Haaland, saying his reliability in front of goal means City will always have a chance in games even if they fall behind.

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"I'd say thanks to me for my brilliant ideas but I would say Erling has done this since he was born," Guardiola said of Haaland's hat-trick.

"Always has done this in his life, at Salzburg, BVB (Borussia Dortmund), always scored goals. These teams who defend deep he has an incredible sense of goal. The three goals, especially the last one, the first one as well, good goals.

"I will tell you the numbers, we score a lot of goals in previous seasons. It was different the quality of the players we have, but we score lots of goals. The problems we have now is we concede a lot, before was not the case. We have a lot of time. Right now we struggle to do the uncomfortable things we have to do but still don't do it. Important is learn the lesson, win the game."

Guardiola had extra praise for Guardiola's body language during the game, especially when City were behind, and the manager explained how the striker continues to settle into life at City.

"He came for that [scoring