There have been only three instances of a player reaching double figures in the Premier League by their eighth appearance of a season:

The 25-year-old’s ruthless double against Everton helped Manchester City to second in the Premier League on Saturday, taking his tally to 11 league goals in just eight games so far this term.

Haaland was kept quiet in the first half, not managing an effort on goal, before coming alive after the break with devastating effect by heading in from Nico O’Reilly’s cross and converting via Savinho’s cutback.

Toffees manager David Moyes approached Haaland at full-time and when asked what the conversation was about, the Scot replied: "I wish he had been somewhere else! Most managers will be thinking the same.”

He added: "I thought in the main we did a really good job. But then how can you say that? He scored two goals. The second one was a bit scruffy and we had not given him too many opportunities.

“Later on in the game, I give great credit to our goalkeeper, the way he defended Haaland one v one because we had opened up trying to get a goal.”

And of his record-breaking striker, City boss Pep Guardiola said: “Sergio [Aguero] scored a lot of goals with his head but the presence from Erling, his stature is huge.

“I am really pleased, not just for the incredible threat to the opponent but [that]we found him much more than the first half. That is really important, when you have these players you have to use them.

“Erling lives for it. Our delivery of passes has been better and Erling is our key man right now.”

Haaland ‘a phenomenon’

It’s difficult at times to find new things to say about Haaland and his goalscoring feats, but the frontman’s numbers this season are staggering.

He has featured in 13 games for club and country, scoring a total of 23 goals including eight for Norway in World Cup qualifying to take his country to the brink of reaching next year’s tournament.

By mid-October, Haaland has struck 14 times for City in the league and Champions League and blanked only against Tottenham back in August.

But he will have to continue scoring at this rate to beat Dixie Dean’s record 63 goals in all competitions from almost a century ago, which stands as a record for an English top-flight player.

He came close to breaking that record in his first season by scoring 52 goals, helping City to a Treble of trophies, before netting 38 and 34 in the past two campaigns.

“The man is an absolute phenomenon,” former Chelsea winger Pat Nevin said on BBC Radio 5 Live.

“He was walking about and looking fairly disinterested in the game. We had hardly mentioned his name. The ball has landed to him twice and never for a millisecond do you think it’s going to end up anywhere but the goal.

“The thing with Haaland when you see him at his very best is that he just looks like a grown man playing with kids. He has got that back again hasn’t he? People just bounce off him, his pace Is extraordinary and he looks superhuman. He is alive again.”

Former Premier League striker Glenn Murray said on Final Score:” The scary thing is, he has become more complete this season.

“He is a better footballer than when he arrived at Manchester City and scored all those goals. He was just a goalscorer then, I think his all-round game is improving.”

City, however, will be wary of being over reliant on their prolific striker, who has scored 13 of their 17 league goals this season.

Phil Foden, Matheus Nunes, Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki are the others who have managed to scramble one goal apiece.

Haaland missed a large portion of last season because of an ankle problem and that absence, alongside injuries to other key players such as Rodri derailed their campaign.

Guardiola now wants others to step up and help share the goalscoring workload.

“[I’m] disappointed he did not score four or five,” Guardiola told BBC Match of the Day. “All jokes aside, really pleased but we can not rely on just him, we need other players [to score]. Wingers, attacking midfielders.”

Referencing missed opportunities by other players, he added: “They have to make a step up and score goals. We play to provide Erling with quality and passing but other players have to step up. The chances were clear and they have to score. At this level they have to demand themselves.

“Chances from Savinho and Jeremy [Doku] and Tijjani [Reijnders] – they have to score. They have to do it otherwise we can’t do what we want to do.”

City briefly climbed to the summit before Arsenal beat Fulham with Guardiola adding his side will “sleep in the Champions League position this weekend so it Is good”.

After a sticky start to the season featuring two losses in their opening three Premier League games, it certainly is going smoothly at the moment. (BBC)