Southampton 1-4 Manchester City: Erling Haaland’s acrobatic beauty for his 30th Premier League goal
There's an aura of inevitability around Erling Haaland. Whether defenders stalk his every move or stand off him, the outcome will be the same. Whether he is limited to single figures for touches of the ball or he richly impacts the build-up, the outcome will be the same.

Like death and taxes, Haaland tipping games in City’s favour is becoming one of life’s certainties. He scored with his first sniff of goal here and then added another with an audacious overhead kick to take his tally to 44 for the season, 30 of which in the Premier League.
Let’s take a moment to digest those numbers. Thirty league goals in his debut campaign, a figure so few have managed to hit, and now just four away from Mo Salah’s season record of 34. Remember when some jokers reckoned City were better without him in the side?
‘As a top scorer we lived two incredible decades with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi but (Haaland) is on that level,’ said a purring Pep Guardiola. ‘He scores a lot of goals. The numbers he has at his age are unbelievable.’
As he peeled off to celebrate his brace, with his trademark Zen celebration, one wondered about the levels Haaland can hit but more so, the heights he can fire City to in the short-term future.