Haaland chips in 35th Premier League goal, breaks single-season scoring record

Is it good to score 35 goals in 33 games? Signs point to yes

In the Premier League, Erling Haaland stands alone.

The Manchester City striker scored his 35th league goal this season in Wednesday’s 3-0 win over West Ham, setting a new record for goals in a single Premier League season.

Haaland had already scored more goals in a single 38-game Premier League season than anyone else, but as he beat Lukasz Fabiański in the 70th minute, he broke a three-way tie in the record books.

Andy Cole and Alan Shearer had both scored 34 goals in the Premier League’s earliest days, with Cole setting the mark with Newcastle in the 1993-94 season, and Shearer matching him while at Blackburn one year later. However, both of those seasons came in an era where the Premier League (which began in 1992-93) had 22 teams, and thus played a 42-game schedule.

By contrast, it took Haaland just 33 games to score 35, making it highly likely that the Norwegian will push the record to unanticipated heights.

The record-breaker came from a typically clinical Haaland finish. Man City won possession in their own half, and with West Ham trailing 1-0 at the time, there was plenty of space to attack on the counter. Bernardo Silva fed Jack Grealish, who rewarded Haaland’s powerful run in behind.

As he has so many times this season, Haaland finished the move with an unstoppable shot, waiting for Fabiański to commit before smoothly lobbing the ball past him.

While he’s having a historic season in the Premier League, Haaland is still some way from topping the English top flight record for goals in a single season. Dixie Dean scored 60 times for Everton in the 1927-28 season, leaving Haaland something to shoot for in 2023-24. Haaland’s total is currently the most anyone has scored at the top of the English pyramid since 1966-67, when Ron Davies scored 37 for Southampton.

Predictably, figures at Man City lavished him with praise after the match.

“This is unbelievable, to score this many goals” manager Pep Guardiola told Sky Sports after the match. “He deserves the guard of honor.”

“It’s crazy. The way he came in and does this every day. He deserves everything he gets, he works so hard, and he’s a top player. He works hard for the team and hopefully, he can score even more,” added Nathan Aké, who also scored on the day.

Speaking for himself, Haaland acknowledged that the record was something he’d thought about before the match, calling it a “special moment” while joking that the Man City guard of honor was “really painful” from all the playful back slaps his teammates gave him.

“I’m really happy and proud,” said Haaland, who said that he wasn’t planning on going for a chip until the ball bobbled up invitingly for him at the last moment. “I didn’t think of it, that I was gonna chip [Fabiański], but the possibility was there and that’s why I did it.”

“Me and Jack spoke before the game, he wanted to give me the assist for the record-breaking goal,” added Haaland. “It was a perfect ball from Jack.”

Watch Haaland set the Premier League single season goalscoring record

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