New Delhi, Sep 13 : Erling Haaland has been voted Premier League Player of the Month for August after an historic start to the season with Manchester City. The Norwegian won the award after scoring seven goals in three appearances this season, the most a player has ever netted in a team's first three Premier League fixtures of a campaign.

The striker's goals included successive hat-tricks against Ipswich Town and West Ham United, as well as a goal at Chelsea to help Man City start the season with three wins from three matches.

He became the first player to score a hat-trick in two of a team's first three league matches in a season since Paul Jewell did so for Bradford City in League Two in 1994/95.

"I am delighted to have won this award so early in the season. I am also very grateful to my team-mates, the coaches and staff for helping to make it happen. August was a brilliant month for the team, and I am proud to have played an important part in that. To have scored seven goals last month in three matches is great, but I will continue to work hard and improve my game," Haaland told Man City's official website.

The 24-year-old Norwegian claimed the prize for the third time, having also won it in August 2022 and April 2023. Haaland topped an eight-man shortlist which included Bryan Mbeumo (Brentford), Amadou Onana (Aston Villa), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), David Raya (Arsenal), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) and Danny Welbeck (Brighton) after the public's votes on the Ea Sports website were combined with those of a panel of football experts.

He will look to add to his seven goals for the season when Man City return to Premier League action at home against Brentford on Saturday

"To have scored seven goals last month in three matches is great, but I will continue to work hard and improve my game. We have given ourselves a great foundation to build on now going into a busy period with the Champions League and Carabao Cup starting. I hope I can continue to help the team get the wins and keep us pushing in all the competitions," he added.

/IANS