Haaland sets record in England

Erling Haaland becomes the first player in the Premier League to score 45 goals across all competitions in a season after Manchester City’s win over Bayern on April 11.

Erling Haaland, the Norwegian forward, continued his impressive form with a brace against Southampton in the 30th round of the English Premier League last weekend, including a stunning “scissor kick” goal. So, there is no doubt that he is one of the highest paid players in the Premier League.

Haaland then helped Manchester City extend their lead against Bayern Munich in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals with an exquisite assist for Bernardo Silva to score a header. And later he scored himself with a delicate right-footed finish from a header by John Stones, securing an incredible 3-0 victory for Manchester City.

This result not only puts Pep Guardiola’s team in a favorable position to advance to the semi-finals of the Champions League, despite an away leg at Allianz Arena still to come but also marks a historic milestone for Haaland as the number 9 for the defending Premier League champions.

Haaland’s decisive goal in Manchester City’s 3-0 victory helped him reach a total of 45 goals this season, including 30 goals in the Premier League, 11 in the Champions League, three in the FA Cup, and one in the League Cup. He is one of the best strikers in the world. He surpasses the previous record of 44 goals held by Ruud van Nistelrooy (2002-2003) and Mohamed Salah (2017-2018) for the most goals scored across all competitions in a Premier League season.

Haaland still has a maximum of 15 more games to further improve this record. If he maintains his current performance, he could potentially score an additional 17 goals, taking his total for the season to 62 goals. In the past few decades, only Lionel Messi has achieved this feat in Europe with 73 goals in the 2011-2012 season. Cristiano Ronaldo’s best season in terms of goals scored is 61 goals in the 2014-2015 season.

Haaland is also currently leading the goal-scoring charts in both the Champions League and Premier League, well ahead of his closest competitors. In the Champions League, he has scored 11 goals in seven games, averaging 1.57 goals per game. The closest players to him in terms of goals scored are Vinicius Junior and Joao Mario, both with six goals.

The Norwegian striker’s performance this season translates to an average of 1.15 goals per game across all competitions. In other words, his average would decrease if he only scored one goal per game, as he did in the match against Bayern. After seven encounters with Bayern resulting in draws or losses, Haaland finally secured a victory against the “Bavarians”. After the match, he wrote on Twitter: “Only love, nothing else, for this competition.”

Haaland has scored 34 goals in 26 appearances in the Champions League, while Ronaldo did not score in his first 26 appearances in the competition. To break Ronaldo’s record of 140 goals, Haaland would need to score another 107 goals. With his current form, the Manchester City forward is on track to surpass Ronaldo’s record in another 82 games. According to Fabrizio Romano, Haaland deserves to be considered a “goal-scoring machine”.

Haaland has benefited from Manchester City’s excellent form, with a nine-game winning streak across all competitions, scoring 34 goals and conceding only three goals. Pep Guardiola’s team is in a strong position to potentially win three titles this season.

Keep following SimilarSports to update the latest football news as well as the sporting difference in the world.