Erling Haaland deserves a place in the Premier League hall of legends

At Craven Cottage, Erling Haaland surpassed Alan Shearer's record to become the quickest to reach 100 Premier League goals, doing so in only 111 games. This milestone is the ultimate achievement that places Haaland among the all-time greats.

Against a determined and eager Fulham side, Erling Haaland was the catalyst for the wild scoring chase, which ended with a 5-4 victory for Man City. The Norwegian striker opened the scoring for the visitors in the 17th minute with a simple finish as usual. That goal was enough to bring Haaland to 100 Premier League goals since his move from Dortmund to Etihad in the summer of 2022. At the time, people only expected a great striker to join the league, not imagining Haaland would dominate the Premier League as effortlessly as flipping a hand.

Notably, Erling Haaland became the fastest player to reach 100 Premier League goals in history. Specifically, Pep Guardiola’s star required only 111 appearances for Man City to surpass legends like Michael Owen, Thierry Henry, Harry Kane, Mohamed Salah, and Alan Shearer—who previously held the record by reaching 100 goals in 124 matches in England's top division.

Among the teams Haaland enjoys scoring against the most, Wolves tops the list in an undesirable way. Statistics show that Man City's leading scorer has netted 10 goals against the Molineux side in just 6 encounters. West Ham (9 goals) and Manchester United (6 goals) follow behind. In reality, very few teams escape Haaland’s scoring when facing Man City unless he is injured or suspended. It’s clear Haaland is currently in unprecedented form, as many assumed after a tough 2024/25 season for all clubs and the exertion of the FIFA Club World Cup, the Norwegian striker would not be as sharp as now. But everyone was wrong.

According to statistics, the 25-year-old striker has scored a total of 23 goals for Man City in 23 appearances across all competitions, currently leading the Premier League scoring charts with 15 goals. That means he averages a goal per game. This scoring rate is even more impressive than in the 2022/23 season, when he scored 52 goals in 53 matches to help Man City secure a historic treble. In the 2026 World Cup European qualifiers (excluding playoffs), Haaland also dominated with 16 goals, twice as many as the runner-up. Thanks to Haaland’s brilliance, Norway has returned to the World Cup after many long years. Clearly, Haaland has prepared exceptionally well for this season. Of course, he is not always explosive at 100%, but he consistently guarantees both goals and assists whenever he is on the pitch.

With the fastest scoring pace in the Premier League, Haaland could easily become the greatest goal scorer in the league’s history. Specifically, with an average of 25 goals per season, the Norwegian striker is likely to soon break Alan Shearer’s legendary record of 260 goals. The remaining question is whether Haaland and Man City will stay together long enough for him to equal and surpass Shearer in the future.

In a post-match press conference following the 5-4 win over Fulham, Pep Guardiola expressed immense pride in Haaland. However, Guardiola emphasized that while individual results and achievements are commendable, the team must always come first: "If you had told me before that he would score 100 goals in 111 matches, I would have asked: ‘Are you sure? Who can do that in the Premier League?’".

He stressed that the Premier League has seen many great strikers, but Haaland is not yet the "ultimate peak"—a phrase meant to encourage the former Molde player to improve even further: “This league has had some of the best forwards in history. Haaland is among them but not the best yet. That’s a matter of numbers, and his achievements speak for themselves. I’m very happy for Haaland, and also proud that the whole team played with such enthusiasm to make this day special for him.”

The end of the year period in the Premier League is always crucial. Guardiola’s main focus is Haaland’s excellence combined with outstanding performances from Foden, Reijnders, Doku, and others to help Man City maintain pressure and seize opportunities to claim the top spot in the Premier League. Haaland is excellent, but Guardiola does not want his star player to always be the "center" like Cristiano Ronaldo. He prefers goals to come from various sources and especially from different players. This approach will greatly benefit Man City’s ambition to regain the number one spot in the Premier League and aim for their second Champions League title in club history.

At the same time, Guardiola must sternly remind the defense after conceding 4 goals to a team like Fulham. This is the fourth consecutive match across all competitions in which Man City has conceded at least two goals. Clearly, this is not the performance expected from a genuine title contender. The offense cannot always compensate for defensive mistakes. If this issue is not addressed immediately, Man City might stumble due to their "Achilles’ heel."

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