What Erling Haaland did after Man City vs Everton earns Cristiano Ronaldo comparison - 'State of mind'

Erling Haaland scored both goals for Manchester City as they beat Everton in the Premier League but he could have had a hat-trick.

Two goals in five second-half minutes had long since ended Saturday's game as a contest, but a different kind of battle was waged in injury time. It became a personal duel between Erling Haaland and the match ball, with Jordan Pickford playing a significant cameo.

Haaland had cracked open a slow-burner of a game with two goals that owed a lot to the brilliance of his movement, and with seven minutes added on, he suddenly decided he wanted his 12th hat-trick for Manchester City.

Three times in as many minutes, he raced in behind the Everton defence. Twice, Pickford stopped him, and once, he forced him wide enough to make a shot impossible. Haaland would end the game with 23 goals in 13 matches this season, but he was angry that he didn't have a 24th.

For a player in the form of his life, it's a quirk that he has now gone nearly 14 months since last scoring a hat-trick for City. On 10 occasions, he has got to two, but that third just won't come.

He wants it desperately, though, and his hunger for goals is similar to that of Cristiano Ronaldo, according to Ruben Dias, who plays with them both. Ronaldo got his 949th career goal on Saturday night, but Haaland is up to 344 already and threatening to rewrite the record books, something his Etihad teammates are determined to help him with.

"That's a good reflection of his state of mind," Dias said when asked if Haaland's desire for goals reminded him of Ronaldo.

"Yeah, very similar. At the end of the day, everyone wants to score - but both of them have this ability to just keep on scoring.

"It's like someone makes a very good pass. Everyone has their own special ability - and they score goals. We're just happy that Erling is in this moment and we want him to continue. We want to keep pushing him because we want him to break records that have not been beaten before."

Ronaldo had fewer than 200 goals to his name at the age Haaland is now and the 25-year-old Norwegian doesn't look like slowing up. He has scored all of City's last seven goals and is on track to hit 53 in the Premier League this season at his current rate, even if that hat-trick just wouldn't come against Everton.

"We were all rooting for it," said Dias. "I felt at one point he didn't even want any more one-vs-ones but it was one of those days. Scored two, could have had three or four, but that will come in the future."

Pep Guardiola has said he feels Haaland has gone to another level this season and the striker said having a child had given him a distraction from the intensity of the game, but Dias hasn't noticed much of a change in a player becoming a goalscoring phenomenon.

"I don't really know because Erling has beaten the Premier League goals record before, so better than ever?" queried the Portuguese centre-back.

"He's always been brilliant and on a very special level. Last season was obviously tricky for us, but it was probably the moment after winning so much.

"But again and again, Erling has been at this level. I don't know what his numbers were, but we will keep pushing him, like we pushed Savinho today. We will push everyone on the pitch because only that way will we achieve great things."