Manchester City ace Erling Haaland scored his 35th goal of the season, shattering the Premier League’s all-time single-season goal-scoring record in Wednesday’s 3-0 victory over West Ham United.
With 34 goals for the season, Haaland entered the game tied with Alan Shearer and Andy Cole for the most productive season in the Premier League history, despite the legendary pair’s 42-game seasons.
Haaland already smashed the record for the 38-game season.
While Haaland’s impressive feat on Wednesday, May 3 didn’t come handily, the Norwegian made headlines with a lavish lob midway through the second half that gave City breathing room and cemented his name even more deeply into history.
With 35 goals, Haaland set a record for the most goals in a single Premier League season in 33 appearances.
Erling Haaland Honoured with a Guard of Honour
Erling Haaland became the first player to achieve 35 goals in a Premier League season, and his Manchester City colleagues honored him with a “painful” guard of honor.
Pep Guardiola’s team returned to the top of the league, ahead of championship rivals Arsenal, thanks to Haaland’s 51st goal of the season in all competitions in the 70th minute.
The last player off the field at the Etihad was Norwegian striker Haaland, who had Guardiola, City’s players, and the coaching staff queuing up on each side of him to applaud his record-breaking feat.
Nathan Ake scored the game’s first goal, Haaland added a second, and Phil Foden’s strike in the 85th minute was City’s 1,000th goal since Guardiola took over in 2016.
The Norwegian star has dominated in his first season in England, but City manager Pep Guardiola thinks the 22-year-old still has a lot of opportunity to make exploit.
After the game, City boss Guardiola paid tribute to Haaland and said: “I think he deserved it [the guard of honor] because he’s a special striker.”
“We thought about doing it before, I think in football, when there is a special occasion, you have to show how special it is. He’s incredible.”
“He’s just 22 and still has five league games left this season. To break the record of Andy Cole and Alan Shearer, two incredible top strikers, is so special.”
The 22-year-old goal maestro, Haaland also makes comments on the astounded guard of honor.
Haaland said: “I’ve never seen that before at the end – it was a nice feeling. It was painful, as everyone hit me in the back, but it was nice and I was really happy. I don’t think about personal records.”
“My head would become crazy, so I won’t think about it. I’ll play some video games, sleep and think about Leeds. But it was a special night and a special moment.”
“Of course, I knew about the record, but we tried to create chances to score goals. We struggled a bit in the first half but got the goals.”
Who is Erling Haaland?
Erling Braut Haaland was born on 21 July 2000 and is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Manchester City and the Norway national team.
His age and height
Haaland is 22-year-old and he is 1.94 m tall.
Haaland’s contract and salary at Manchester City.
Haaland signed a five-year deal to join City in the summer from Borussia Dortmund for £51.2 million.
And his salary has been explained below:
Total value in five years: $120,596,045
Salary per year: $24,119,209
Wages per week: $432,909
Release clause: $207,721,100
Free agency: 2027
Erling Haaland’s stats this season
Haaland has featured in 45 matches for Manchester City since the season began.
Interestingly, the Norwegian striker has scored more goals than his game time, netting 51 goals with 8 assists across all competitions.
Haaland club record
In his club career, Erling Haaland has played 228 matches in total, scoring 186 goals with 44 assists.
National career stats
Haaland has represented his country from the U-15 junior national team to the senior team and has played 69 matches across all levels.
The Norwegian star also did impressively well at the national level, netting 57 goals for his country.
Haaland’s trophies
Haaland has won four trophies in his career so far but has also won other honors due to his fantastic performances.
While playing for Salzburg, he won the 2018/19 Austrian Bundesliga, Austrian Cup, and the 2019/20 Austrian Bundesliga.
With Dortmund, he won the 2020/21 DFB Pokal.
In 2020 he won the Golden Boy Award and was named Norwegian Sportsperson of the Year.
He was also included in the FIFA FIFPRO World 11 in the past two years.
What’s next for Haaland and Manchester City?
Haaland has scored in each of his past three appearances for City and will be looking forward to making it four in a row when his side host Leeds United on Saturday, May 7.
