The Norwegian took his top-flight tally to 25, surpassing last season’s Golden Boot winning total of 23, after a clinical display at the Etihad Stadium.
He struck shortly before the interval and swiftly after the break, before rounding off his display with his third of the afternoon before the hour mark.
Stones was ecstatic with our number nine after the victory. He said:
“That’s his quality. I’m so pleased for him again. He just keeps coming up with the goals. He’s incredible. He’s probably got more than me in my career in half a season!
“What a great professional, incredible player, incredible person. Another hat-trick, I’ll be writing a little message on his ball after this.
“We have had a lot of good goals from different players coming off the bench, starting the games. Riyad [Mahrez] the other night.
“I don’t want to just put it all on him. We all need to chip and we are doing but when he scores three in a game it’s difficult!”
The Englishman played the entire 90 minutes and was as assured as always, ending the match with 93% pass accuracy and 73 touches of the ball, helping to secure a well-deserved clean sheet.
The defender was pleased with City’s intent from the first whistle. He said:
“Really good, we always have a difficult game against Wolves. They are very organised and athletic. We had to be patient to get that goal today and break them down.
“I thought we did so well after the other day. Especially in the first half we weren’t at it and the manager made that clear.
“We knew today we had to hit the ground running and get off to a good start, playing with tempo and that set the game.
“Today we knew that we had to do that from the off and we did. The patience and desire was there and we were scoring goals and creating chances. Obviously a clean sheet is massive now.”
The victory takes us temporarily two points behind league-leaders Arsenal, but Stones has insisted that City will remain focused and grounded for the remainder of the campaign.
“I think it’s just about us, I’ve said it plenty of times. We can be our own worst enemies at times. We have to be focused. We can see where we are and keep taking it game by game.
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“We are the champions for a reason and we want to be champions again so we have to put ourselves in the best place possible. Keep winning games and getting clean sheets and see where it takes us.”
