Haaland scores again (Photo: Alex Dodd – CameraSport via Getty Images) They were his very first victims on the opening weekend. Only Liverpool can be sure of escaping this season without conceding to Haaland and perhaps it was always fanciful to think West Ham, of all teams, would be able to achieve that. On his way to these 35 goals, he has scored against every Premier League opponent that he has played against twice and most of those he has faced just the once, too. But then you remembered a simple fact: keeping City out means keeping Haaland out, too, and very few sides are capable of that.

After a rather flat first-half performance by Pep Guardiola’s side, it was tempting to wonder whether West Ham might scrape a point and reinvigorate the title race. He is inevitable, even in games like this where a deep-set defence has been expertly drilled to deny City the spaces in which they want to play. And though so much has already been said and written about him, that he should be the talking point once again is almost as inevitable as the goals themselves.īecause they are inevitable. It is a historic individual achievement in a historic individual season. One he would have fixed his sights upon following his arrival in Manchester last summer.

This is a record of which Haaland was aware. ‘Most goals scored in all competitions by a Premier League player’. ‘Fastest player to 30 Champions League goals’. ‘Youngest player to 30 Champions League goals’. Some of the many records Haaland has been credited with breaking this season have felt inconsequential, bordering on wilfully obscure. As a relative novice to English football, he has eclipsed two of its great goalscorers.Īnd so another milestone is passed, this the latest to have a bespoke graphic ready to flash up on the Etihad’s jumbotron moments after the ball hits the net. In his rookie year, he has broken a record that had stood for nearly three decades. It is not, though, and you already know why.Įrling Haaland scored his 35th goal of the Premier League season - the most by a single player in any Premier League season – despite this being his first and despite him still being just 22 years of age.

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