Haaland hat-trick chaos as Man City smash Chelsea – Premier League live
06.02.2026 - 05:10:35
Manchester City 4-1 Chelsea – Haaland goes full cheat code
This one was meant to be tight. It wasn’t. From the first whistle, City pressed like they were offended by Chelsea even turning up. The opening goal was classic City brutality: Kevin De Bruyne slipped Phil Foden into space, Foden cut it back and Erling Haaland smashed in from close range. 1-0, and that was the signal for the floodgates.
Haaland’s second was pure striker instinct. A whipped ball in from Bernardo Silva, a tiny yard of space in the box, and the Norwegian monster just guided a header into the far corner. Keeper rooted. 2-0 and Chelsea’s back line looked like it wanted the ground to swallow it whole.
Chelsea did get a lifeline. Cole Palmer – of course it had to be him against his old club – dragged them back into it with a crisp left-foot finish from the edge of the box after Raheem Sterling slipped him in. 2-1, and suddenly the away end actually remembered how to sing.
But any hope died with the big VAR moment of the day. Sterling burst into the box, went down under a tangle with Rúben Dias, and everyone in blue screamed for a penalty. Ref waved play on, VAR checked it, and after a long, horrible wait for Chelsea fans, the decision stood: no pen. Social media absolutely erupted – half of X (Twitter) was yelling robbery, the other half saying Sterling went down way too easy.
City punished the chaos instantly. On the counter, De Bruyne broke through midfield, slipped Haaland in one-on-one and you just knew. Little stutter, keeper commits, ball rolled into the corner. Haaland hat-trick. 3-1, game basically dead.
The final punch came from Phil Foden, who’d been brilliant all game. A loose ball at the edge of the box, one touch out of his feet and a curling rocket into the top corner. 4-1 and the Etihad was bouncing. Haaland leaves with the match ball, De Bruyne walks off to a standing ovation, and Chelsea look absolutely shell-shocked.
Big names check: Haaland was unplayable – three goals, constant menace, living in Chelsea’s nightmares now. De Bruyne looked like a puppeteer again, pulling strings with two assists and about a million smart touches. On the other side, Palmer tried to drag Chelsea along, but Enzo Fernández and the rest of that midfield never really grabbed control. Defensively? Disaster. They just couldn’t live with City’s tempo.
Liverpool 2-1 Burnley – Salah decisive, Anfield anxious
Over at Anfield it was a completely different vibe. Less fireworks, more stress. Liverpool needed the points to stay properly in the title race and Burnley turned up determined to make it ugly.
The breakthrough came from exactly who you’d expect: Mohamed Salah. After a slick move down the right, Trent Alexander-Arnold found space and whipped in a trademark cross. Salah peeled off his marker, cushioned a header inside the near post and Anfield exploded. 1-0 Liverpool, Salah doing Salah things again.
But Burnley didn’t fold. Right after half-time, Liverpool switched off from a set piece and paid for it. A deep corner, chaos in the box, and Lyle Foster reacted fastest, smashing home from close range. 1-1, and suddenly you could feel the nerves around the ground.
Then came the huge Salah moment, and the controversy. He burst into the box, went shoulder-to-shoulder with a defender, hit the turf, and the ref pointed straight to the spot. VAR check, of course – replays showed contact, but was it enough? Burnley fans and half the internet were screaming dive, but the decision stood. Penalty Liverpool.
Up stepped Dominik Szoboszlai, calm as you like. He sent the keeper the wrong way, rolled it into the corner and made it 2-1. From there it was scrappy, tense, and very un-Liverpool-slick, but they got it over the line. Salah finished with a goal and a drawn penalty, Darwin Núñez ran his socks off but didn’t finish his chances, and Trent’s delivery kept Burnley pinned back most of the night.
Heroes and flops? Salah delivered again when it mattered, even if people will argue all week about that penalty. Szoboszlai showed serious nerve, while defensively Liverpool still looked shaky at times, especially on set pieces. Burnley’s Foster was excellent, but in the end they just didn’t have enough quality to nick a point.
Title race twist – who's really on top right now?
So what do these football results today actually change? Simple: Manchester City just sent a message the size of a billboard. Smashing Chelsea like that keeps them right in the mix and piles pressure on everyone around them. Liverpool’s narrow win means they’re still hanging in the fight, but it felt more like survival than domination.
With City hammering in four and Liverpool grinding another three points, the top of the Premier League is getting seriously tight. Every point feels like gold dust now, and with this kind of form Haaland and Salah are both going to be sniffing around the top scorers today and for the rest of the season.
What does this mean for the title race? Click here for the live standings
Social Media Spotlight – VAR rage and Haaland hysteria
Online, it's absolute madness. The two big talking points: that Sterling penalty shout for Chelsea and whether Salah got away with one versus Burnley. Meanwhile Haaland is breaking the internet with every replay of his hat-trick.
The Internet is Exploding: 3 Social Media Highlights
X Discussion: Fans furious over the Sterling VAR penalty call and debating if City got lucky
My take: City in killer mode, Liverpool clinging on
From a young reporter’s eye test? City tonight looked like champions-in-waiting. Haaland was in that terrifying zone where every half-chance feels like a goal, De Bruyne is back to quarterbacking everything, and the whole team played like they smelled blood. If they keep this up, good luck stopping them.
Liverpool got the job done, but it wasn’t exactly a statement. You can’t keep living on the edge with narrow wins and nervy finishes, not when City are slapping top sides for fun. Salah is still world-class – his movement and killer instinct are unreal – but that defence needs to tighten up fast if they want to stay in this fight until May.
Chelsea? Honestly, that was rough. Palmer was the one shining light, but as a unit they looked miles off a side that wants Champions League football. If this is the level, there are going to be some very loud questions about the project, the manager, and how you can spend that much money and still look this fragile.
Final whistle: don’t blink, the table is changing by the minute
So yeah, if you were looking for drama from the top leagues, today delivered. Haaland’s hat-trick, Salah’s clutch moments, VAR arguments blowing up timelines – this is exactly why you can’t take your eyes off the Premier League for even a day.
And remember, the story isn’t just the individual games – it’s what they do to the bigger picture. City surging, Liverpool surviving, Chelsea stumbling… it’s all written right there in the league table.
Check full stats & standings now
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