Erling Haaland breaks Premier League record with Man City
Manchester City striker Erling Haaland celebrated his return to Yorkshire with two goals against one of his father’s former clubs.
Wednesday night was a special night for the Haaland family. They returned to the city they lived in between 1997 and 2000. It was at the end of this period that Erling Braut Haaland was born. Now, 22 years later, Erling played his first official match in his hometown. The Manchester City striker celebrated his return to Yorkshire with two goals against one of his father’s former clubs, Leeds United, defending the shirt of another of them, City.
In his ten years in the Premier League, Alf-Inge scored a total of 18 goals: seven for Nottingham Forest, eight for Leeds and three for City. On Wednesday, the son surpassed the father. It was a foregone conclusion, all things considered. One was a defensive midfielder, the other could break all the records on offer as a striker. He is already breaking other players’ records despite less being a professional footballer for less than six years.
Haaland Jr made his debut at the age of 15 in Norway, the country of his parents and the country he represents at international level. He grew up in Norway and became a player there before making headlines across Europe as a teenager. When he made his debut with Molde’s first team, he scored a goal on his debut. Something he has never stopped doing. His strength, speed and finishing ability characterise him. Having just come of age, Haaland left for RB Salzburg to make his breakthrough. In Austria, he found the net 29 times in 27 games. At Borussia Dortmund, he scored 86 goals in 89 games.
Haaland’s immediate impact
His impact in England was immediate. He scored a hat-trick in his first Manchester derby, his third hat-trick in just eight league games. Eight. And he had scored 14 goals in total. He kept on scoring, against Southampton, Brighton, Fulham and then again after the World Cup. The biggest footballing event on the calendar was missing one of the world’s best strikers. Haaland eagerly awaited the return of his team-mates. He scored last week against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup, and netted a brace against Leeds in the return of the Premier League.
The towering nine finished the year by becoming the player who needed the fewest games to reach 20 goals in Premier League history. Haaland is 22 years old and has the world at his feet. With his most recent feat, the Norwegian surpassed several Premier League household names. He has 20 goals in just 14 league games. By comparison, and to give some context, it took Fernando Torres 27 games to reach that number, Alan Shearer 29, Sergio Aguero 30 and Thierry Henry 34. Former Sunderland centre forward Kevin Phillips had been the fastest to date with 21.
At his age, Lionel Messi had 44 goals for Barcelona while Cristiano Ronaldo had 50. Both began their respective careers as wide players before going on to lead the attack for their respective teams. He’s in a hurry, he’s hungry, and Haaland is setting the bar high.