'Scary' Erling Haaland looks perfect player as Man City humiliate United in derby

We are running out of superlatives for Erling Haaland’s goalscoring exploits and we have only reached the start of October.

What else is there to say about a player who has three hat-tricks in his eight Premier League games, one who has 17 goals in all competitions by October 2. Manchester United were adamant they had a game plan ready to manage him at the Eithad on Sunday. Three goals and two assists later, it is safe to say it did not work.

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Haaland’s first few months in Manchester is that, lost among the glut of goals, is what else he brings to the table. Even after a few months in England, the Norwegian phenomenon is morphing into the perfect striker, perhaps the best all-round attacker to play the game.

His finishing speaks for itself. Three hat-tricks in eight games is as many as Cristiano Ronaldo has managed in the entirety of his English top-flight career, across two spells. The next fastest to three Premier League trebles is Michael Owen, in 48 matches.

"The numbers speak for himself," said Pep Gaurdiola after the breathtaking game was over. "We have this incredible sense that he always looks starving and is so competitive. The numbers are scary, honestly."

The goalscoring does not make sense, especially given what else he brings. The pass for Foden’s second goal of the match, that ended the derby clash as a contest before the first half was even done, was something that would have made Kevin De Bruyne blush.

Strikers are often the best suppliers of crosses, as they know exactly where they would want it if they were in the same position, but to provide a through pass like that for Foden, with a finesse normally reserved only for playermakers, is simply remarkable.