LEEDS: As the Norwegian scored twice in Manchester City's 3-1 victory over Leeds to reclaim second place in the Premier League, Erling Haaland lamented not scoring five goals in his hometown.
Haaland spent his early years in Yorkshire, where his father Alfe Inge was a Leeds player. However, he showed no mercy as City got back on track with their title challenge.
After suffering a shocking defeat against Brentford prior to the World Cup, Pep Guardiola's team improved to within five points of Arsenal for the lead in the table.
Haaland has scored 20 Premier League goals in just 14 City appearances since joining, but he was still dissatisfied after missing three one-on-one opportunities to beat Illan Meslier.
Haaland stated to Amazon Prime, "That's the truth: I could've scored five."
"We win, that is really significant. Now that Arsenal is at the top, we must chase them, but as a striker, I could have scored more goals.
"That's life, and I need to practice more."
Haaland should have scored after 45 seconds, but Meslier saved well when he was clean through.
That set the tone for City's frustration during the first half, when a number of great chances came and went.
Guardiola was left with his head in his hands after two glaring misses from Jack Grealish and another battle with Haaland that Meslier won.
However, crucially, Leeds was unable to maintain a level score until the halftime break, when the visitors finally made their dominance count.
Kevin De Bruyne provided the Leeds defense with an opening for the goal, and Rodri converted the rebound after Riyad Mahrez's shot was stopped by Meslier.
Grealish made up for his previous mistakes by scoring the second goal with a deft intercept and selfless pass to Haaland that rolled into an empty net.
The City star recognized his Leeds past by declining to celebrate, however it didn't stop him including a second the night from another Grealish reduction.
Haaland described his performance at Elland Road as "a really special moment in my career."
"To be at Elland Road and score for Manchester City against Leeds was in my wildest fantasy I could think of."
Although Leeds remain perilously poised, just two points above the relegation zone, Pascal Struijk's 17th-minute header from a corner gave them at least a goal to show for their efforts.
With only Meslier to beat once more, Haaland did at least spare the home team his fourth Premier League hat trick with an unusually weak finish.
At the other end, Joe Gelhardt's curling effort was only a few millimeters away from producing a grandstand finish.
However, City's performance was deserving of a victory by two goals as they moved past Newcastle into second place in the table.