Haaland races to another Premier League record

There was some hesitancy as to whether Erling Haaland would start this afternoon’s blockbuster clash with Liverpool. After having spent most of the international break nursing an ankle injury, the giant Norwegian only returned to training a couple of days ago and was a doubt until the day of the game.

Haaland starts and scores

In the end City manager Pep Guardiola decided that Haaland was fit enough to feature in his starting XI at the Etihad and the striker showed that he is over his ankle issues by opening the scoring after just 26 minutes, Nathan Aké waltzed through the Liverpool defence before jabbing the ball to Haaland, who was lurking between Matip and Van Dijk on the edge of the area. He needed just two quick touches before rifling home past Allison - his 13th Premier League goal of the season and yet another registry in the history books.

No one has reached the 50-goal mark faster than Haaland during the Premier League era. It has taken the City frontman just 48 games to reach his half century - obliterating the previous record of 65 games, set by Manchester United’s Andy Cole in March 1995. He took the record from Alan Shearer, who took 66 games to reach 50 goals during stints at Southampton and Blackburn Rovers.