“Erling Haaland: Breaking Premier League Records at Manchester City”

Not least since moving from Borussia Dortmund to Manchester City in the summer of 2022, Erling Haaland has been in a goal mood in the jersey of the reigning English champions. Already in his first season on the island, the Norwegian broke some records. With a brace against Leicester City (3: 1), the next milestone in his still young Premier League time was achieved. With 31 and 32 league goals, the 22-year-old equaled Mohamed Salah’s previous record (32 goals) for most Premier League goals in a 38-game season. In the top game against leaders FC Arsenal (Wednesday, 9 p.m./Sky) Haaland is now targeting the next record.

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With two more goals, the beefy centre-forward would break Andy Cole and Alan Shearer’s age-old record for most goals in a Premier League season, which at the time even included 42 games. Cole struck 34 times for Newcastle United in 1993/94, Shearer matching that for Blackburn Rovers the following season. The number of games in which the Haaland record was set would be particularly noteworthy. Because: If the attacker plays against Arsenal, he will only play for the 29th time in the English elite league. Theoretically, he would then have another seven games to improve the record.

Haaland already demonstrated his qualities in his debut season in England. The first record tumbled after just eight games in the Citizens jersey: never before had a player in the Premier League managed three hat-tricks so quickly. For comparison: Cristiano Ronaldo managed this “feat” three times in his entire time in the Premier League (236 games for Manchester United). And: Michael Owen, who had previously held this record, needed 48 games for Liverpool FC for three hat-tricks.

The next Haaland record was not long in coming. As of early October 2022, aged 22 years and 73 days, he became the youngest player to be involved in five goals in a Premier League game (three goals, two assists against United). He’s also the first to do so in a Manchester derby.

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And that’s not all: Haaland has already overtaken Sergio Agüero (26 goals in 33 games) as the top scorer of the “Skyblues” in one season with his strong result. The top striker also equaled Kevin Phillips’ 1999/2000 record for most goals (30) in a debut season in the English top flight. The Norwegian is also the player who has scored the fastest 20 goals in league history – it took him just 14 games to do so. Kevin Phillips set the previous record of 21 games in the 1999/2000 season with Sunderland FC.