It was City’s sixth consecutive win in all competitions, scoring 23 goals in that time. We’re at the part of the season where we have to be at our best, said Haaland, who now has 42 goals in all competitions. This is when it all comes down to it.
City are still in pursuit of three trophies, but although Pep Guardiola’s team is the main favorite in the FA Cup, they may have to maintain that form to win the other two. They will meet Bayern in the Champions League quarterfinals next month and could go into the international break eight points behind Arsenal in the Premier League if the Gunners beat Crystal Palace at home on Sunday.
However, this is a minor concern compared to the headache Antonio Conte faces at Tottenham.
Conte lashed out at his players for selfishness and launched into a tirade against the club’s lack of a winning mentality after his side blew a 3-1 lead and drew 3-3 with last-place Southampton.
This result cost Tottenham a chance to move up to provisional third place, and made things even more tense in an increasingly intriguing relegation battle involving no fewer than nine teams. Now only four points separate 12th-place Palace and Southampton at the bottom of the table.
Leeds needed one win to climb from 19th place to 14th after beating Wolverhampton 4-2 away, while Leicester remained in relegation contention despite halting a five-match losing streak in all competitions with a 1-1 draw with Brentford.
This allowed Leicester to climb just one point above the relegation zone and two points ahead of Southampton, while mid-table Aston Villa scored three wins in four games with a 3-0 win over relegation-threatened Bournemouth.
In their last match, 15th-ranked Everton scored twice and drew 2-2 with Chelsea.
HALAND TRICK
Ahead of Burnley’s visit to the Etihad, everything was dedicated to manager Vincent Kompany, the former City captain, who already has a statue outside the stadium after he won 10 major trophies with the club.
Haaland could get his own statue before his playing career ends if he continues to score at this rate.
The prolific Norwegian has scored withIn the first two goals within three minutes shortly after the half-hour mark and completed his hat trick by scoring from the rebound in the 59th minute.
World Cup winner Julian Alvarez also scored twice and 20-year-old Cole Palmer came on as a substitute when Burnley’s resistance collapsed in the final 30 minutes.
Gary Lineker returned to the airwaves to lead BBC coverage of the game after being suspended last week for criticizing the British government’s migration policy.
The remaining three quarterfinals will take place on Sunday, with Manchester United taking on Fulham in the most notable match.
CONTE TIRED
After seeing his players squander a two goal lead, Conte did little to dispel speculation that he was already looking to leave the club.
I see a lot of selfish players. And I don’t see a team, the Italian manager said after James Ward-Prowse brought Southampton to a draw from a penalty corner in the compensatory time.
And he didn’t end there, adding that Tottenham’s lack of a winning mentality is deeply rooted in a club whose last trophy was won in 2008.
They’re used to it. They don’t play for something important, yes, Conte said. They don’t want to play under pressure, they don’t want to play under stress. It’s easy for them in that sense. Tottenham’s history is like that. Twenty years there’s the same owner and they’ve never won anything.
Conte won titles at Juventus, Inter Milan and Chelsea, but will finish his second season at Tottenham without a trophy. It is increasingly unlikely that he will return for a third.
CHELSEA STAYS UNLESS
After showing signs of momentum under Graham Potter, Chelsea suffered another setback against Everton.
The London club’s three-match winning streak in all competitions was broken when Abdoulaye Doucoure scored the first goal and set up the second for substitute Ellis Sims in the 89th minute.
It was Simms’ first goal for Everton, but he showed composure and confidence when he held off a defender and outplayed goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga with a low shot from a close angle, silencing the crowd at Stamford Bridge.
We thought we played well enough to get three points, but at the end of the day, if you don’t defend well, you don’t get a result, Potter said.
