Credit: Twitter
Erling Halaand has been one of the best players this season and he added another record to his cap as he now scored the most goals in a single Premier League season with his 35th league goal in the win against West Ham on Wednesday night. Halaand surpassed Andy Cole and Alan Shearer, who scored 34 goals each in a 42-game season. After the game, the Norwegian striker received a guard of honour from his Man City teammates.
Manchester City won 3-0 with goals from Nathan Aké, Erling Haaland, and Phil Foden. The win put Guardiola’s men back on top of the Premier League table. Halaand’s record-breaking goal was a touch of class as a Grealish through ball found the Norweigan and he chipped it over the goalkeeper.
Watch Haaland's 35th PL goal:
The Manchester City squad gave Halaand a guard of honor after the game for his outrageous achievement. Halaand has 42 goal contributions in 31 Premier League games and 12 goals in eight Champions League games this season making him a leading candidate for the Balon d'Or.
Of the historic strike, Haaland said, "My first thought is to run towards the goal – me and Jack spoke before the game and he said he wanted to give me the assist for the record. It was the perfect ball, the really perfect bounce as I chip the ball [in]."
Alan Shearer’s 34-goal EPL season came in the 1994-95 campaign while playing for Blackburn Rovers. Former Manchester United legend Andy Cole achieved the feat in the preceding season (1993-94) with Newcastle United. However, back then 22 teams played in the Premier which gave them four more games.
In a 20-team league, Shearer scored 31 goals in 1995-96 which stayed the benchmark until now. Harry Kane (30 goals in 17-18), Luis Suarez (31 goals in 13-14), and Mohammed Salah (31 goals in 17-18) were the only strikers in the last ten years to come close to breaking this record while ex-Man United star Cristiano Ronaldo scored 31 goals in the 2007-08 season.
