Manchester City edged out Brighton with a champions display as Haaland struck twice in front of a charged atmosphere at the Etihad.
It wasn’t a vintage performance from the Champions but it was enough to get them all the maximum points and move them to within a point behind leaders Arsenal who will cross sword with Southampton on Sunday.
By the end of the first 45 minutes Eling Haaland was on a hat-trick — the Norwegian got the opener on the 22 minute and doubled the lead from the spot before halftime taking his tally to 17 goals in 11 Premier League games.
Brighton fought back after the resumption and pulled one back when Leandro Trossard whipped in a fantastic long range shot beyond the reach of Ederson.
The visitors threatened from there and came close to the equalizer in few occasions with Trossard in the thick of things.
But just when Roberto de Zerbi’s men were digging hard for the equalizer Kevin De Bryune decided to show up with a superb 25 yard effort into the top corner to seal victory for Manchester City.