Since joining Manchester City, Erling Haaland has broken record after record, setting expectations for himself that are seemingly impossible to reach.
Yet, somehow, he has continued breaking records this season, scoring nine goals in just four Premier League games – the most prolific start to a season ever, surpassing the previous best of eight set by Wayne Rooney.
Haaland has been so dominant this season that his individual total of nine goals is more than any Premier League team, except his own Manchester City, has managed between them. And, on Saturday, only the width of a goalpost denied the Norwegian star an unprecedented run of hattricks in three consecutive Premier League games.
As it was, he finished with a brace, propelling Manchester City to a 2-1 victory against Brentford and taking his own goalscoring total at the club to 99 in just 103 matches.
His first goal came in the 19th minute, with City trailing after Brentford had scored just 22 seconds into the game, and his second just before halftime when he outfoxed the Bees defense, latched onto goalkeeper Ederson’s long pass forward and chipped the ball into the net.
Such a performance came after Haaland was a doubt for the game following the death of a close family friend earlier in the week.
Already, Haaland has become the fastest player to reach 50 Premier League goals, doing so in just 48 games – 17 faster than Andrew Cole’s previous record. Should he once again lead the league in scoring this season, then he would be the first player since Thierry Henry in 2006 to win three consecutive Golden Boot awards.
“He’s got that all-round combination of: he’s very fast, he’s big, he’s strong. He is very difficult to mark and he’s prolific,” Lineker, a prominent broadcaster with the BBC and host of “The Rest Is Football” podcast, told CNN Sport last month.
“He doesn’t worry about missing, which is one of the keys to goalscoring. He misses chances, but to be a really good goalscorer, you have to miss a lot of chances because that means you’re getting a lot of chances and will score if you’re a good finisher, which he is.”
