Erling Haaland has broken the record for the most goals scored by a player in an English Premier League season (38 games), cementing himself as a legend of the league before his first season is even over.
The 22-year-old Manchester City striker scored in the 95th minute of a 4-1 win against Arsenal to claim his 33rd goal of the season, doing so in just 29 appearances.
Haaland surpassed Mo Salah’s record of 32, which he equalled just over a week ago after scoring a brace against Leicester.
Although Haaland didn’t break the record outright on that day – chiefly due to being substituted at half time – fellow Man City player Kevin De Bruyne broke a record for the fastest time to achieve 100 assists in the English Football Premier League, doing so in 237 matches.
Before Salah, the single-season goalscoring record was jointly held by Alan Shearer, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Suárez with 31 goals.
Of Haaland’s 33 goals, he scored 21 with his favoured left foot, six with his right, and six with his head.
Haaland moved from Borussia Dortmund to Man City less than 12 months ago, in July 2022, after the Premier League champions activated his €60 million (£51.2 million) release clause. He followed in the footsteps of his father, Alfie, who also played for Man City.
Haaland had already made a name for himself in Germany after breaking a record on his Dortmund debut: he came onto the pitch as a second-half substitute and proceeded to score three goals in 19 minutes 48 seconds, breaking the record for the fastest hat-trick on debut in a Bundesliga match.
Haaland failed to score in his first competitive match for Man City as they suffered a 3-1 defeat to Liverpool in the 2022 FA Community Shield. However, he began the Premier League season with a bang, scoring two goals on his debut in a 2-0 away win against West Ham.
Haaland scored his first Premier League hat-trick in the third game of the season, a 4–2 victory against Crystal Palace.
Four days later, he scored another hat-trick in a 6-0 win against Nottingham Forest, surpassing the previous record of scoring two Premier League hat-tricks by 14 matches.
In October, City beat local rivals Man United 6-3, and Haaland became the first player in Premier League history to score a hat-trick in three successive home games. He also became the quickest player in Premier League history to score three hat-tricks, doing so in just eight league games. The previous record, 48 games, was set by Michael Owen in 1998.
Haaland reached the 20-goal mark in December, scoring a brace in City’s 3–1 away win over Leeds United. He became the fastest player to reach 20 Premier League goals, beating Sunderland’s Kevin Phillips’ record by seven games.
On 14 March 2023, Haaland bagged yet another world record after he scored five goals against RB Leipzig, tying Lionel Messi and Luiz Adriano for the most goals scored in a UEFA Champions League match.
In doing so, he reached 39 goals across all competitions; the highest tally ever achieved by a Man City player in one season. He also joined Messi and Ronaldo as the only players to reach a double-digit goal tally in more than one Champions League campaign.
Haaland has scored six hat-tricks so far this season across all competitions, which is one more than every other Premier League player combined.
And he still has plenty of games left to surpass Alan Shearer’s and Andy Cole’s 42-match-season record of 34 goals. Will he be able to do the unthinkable and reach 40?
