Topics: Erling Haaland, Manchester City, Brighton, English Premier League
The Norwegian superstar continued his breathtaking goalscoring form, netting a brace in the first half, but it was his first effort that garnered all the attention, both positive and negative.

Manchester City took to the field on Saturday for Matchweek 13, welcoming Brighton and Hove Albion in what many expected to be a tricky fixture.

After Liverpool's 1-0 defeat away to Nottingham Forest, the Cityzens were awarded an opportunity to add to their tremendous lead over their bitter rivals and needed only 45 minutes to storm to a convincing lead.

The first few minutes in this Etihad Stadium showdown were lovely but just after the 20-minute mark, Guardiola's men broke the deadlock courtesy of – surprise, surprise – Erling Haaland. 

The Norwegian superstar latched onto a lovely pass from Ederson and rounded opposition goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, barged past Adam Webster, and slotted the ball into the back of an empty net.

And just like that, the 22-year-old equaled a brilliant Manchester City record. This was the seventh home game in a row across all competitions in which Erling scored, a feat last achieved by club icon Sergio Aguero back in 2018.

However, there was some controversy regarding the former Dortmund ace's first goal as many deemed him to have fouled Webster during that collision with the English center-back. Check it out in the videos below (geo-restriction applies to these clips).

There was further controversy in that half as Manchester City were awarded a penalty 20 minutes later, which Haaland buried to complete his brace. Lewis Dunk was deemed to have fouled Bernardo Silva in Brighton's penalty box, which was awarded after a lengthy review from VAR, but not everyone agreed, arguing that the Portuguese ace stuck out a leg to initiate contact.