Erling Haaland has been added to the elite list of football stars with a 10 out of 10 rating by L’Equipe for his brilliant hat-trick and two assists in Manchester City’s 6-3 thrashing victory over Man United.
The Norwegian striker is the 14th player in history to receive the French newspaper’s infamous rare score for his performance in the Manchester derby.
The 22-year-old joins Kylian Mbappe, Neymar, Robert Lewandowski, and his two-time honoree Lionel Messi in perfect form.
Haaland was the center of attention on Sunday as it was his first match against Manchester United, the game he was most looking forward to since joining City.
He was right, given the freedom City was given to riot against their fierce rivals at the Etihad.
After Phil Foden broke the deadlock early with a spectacular finish, Haaland doubled the lead with an impressive header from the corner.
Haaland doubled his own score soon afterward, taking his cleats onto a brilliant through ball from Kevin De Bruyne before leaving United.
Foden then scored twice just minutes before half-time and Haaland set it up before completing a hat-trick in the second half.
Even more impressive, Haaland became the first player in Premier League history to score three consecutive home hat-tricks for City.
After the match, the striker stated to Sky Sports, “Yeah, not bad! We scored six goals! What can I say, It’s amazing.”
“To win at home, score six goals, it’s nice.”
“You can feel it all the time. You can see the passes we give each other. We always want to go forward and to attack.”
“It’s what I love about the team. In the end, it’s amazing. There is nothing more to say.”
His efforts are widely recognized, with L’Equipe giving him the best score possible.
Haaland Joins Lionel Messi, Neymar and Robert Lewandowski scoring 10/10
French publication L’Equipe is notoriously picky when it comes to player performance and doesn’t give players high marks lightly. In many cases, athletes with extremely low scores are severely penalized for not performing to the same level.
But they find any flaws with Haaland as he and Foden walked away with the ball on Sunday afternoon.
Messi is the only player in history to reach the rating twice, against Arsenal in 2010 and his second against Bayer Leverkusen two years later.
Alban Lafont was the youngest player to score his 10/10 higher than Haaland. The Frenchman became just the third goalkeeper in history to score against PSG last season.
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