Erling Haaland has written his name into English football folklore after smashing the record to become the fastest player to reach 100 Premier League goals.
The unstoppable Norway forward hammered home his landmark goal with a powerful strike 17 minutes into Man City’s incredible 5-4 win at Fulham.
Haaland became the 35th player to achieve the feat and the first since Heung-Min Son in 2023, but by far the quickest – obliterating Alan Shearer’s previous record which had stood for almost 30 years.
The 25-year-old is comfortably the most ruthless goalscorer in Premier League history, scoring at a rate of more than 0.9 goals per game, miles ahead of his nearest competition Thierry Henry – himself widely considered one of the best strikers in the history of the game.
“It’s huge and I’m really proud,” he said after being presented with the man of the match trophy on Sky Sports folowing that victory at Fulham. “It’s a massive thing, the 100 club is a nice thing to be in and I’m happy.
“I knew about it, it’s what I tried to do. I try to help the team scoring goals, that’s my job.”
Since bursting onto the Premier League scene with 10 goals in his first six matches in 2022/23 he has barely looked back – even if he has had to deal with his fair share of flak for scoring just 22 goals last season.
He hits his century, in the words of the striker himself, in the best form of his life. “I’ve never felt better than I do now,” he told Sky Sports after his winning goal against Brentford earlier this season.
Haaland’s breathtaking race to 100 goals
After such a fast start to his Manchester City career you could hardly say the goals dried up for Haaland – especially as he netted 25 in his first 20 games – but he did at least slow down to just under a goal a game well before reaching his century.
His newly crowned position as being the fastest player to reach 100 Premier League goals was never in doubt, though, smashing Shearer’s record by 19 games – and exceeding the Newcastle legend’s strike rate throughout his time in the Premier League to date.
Here’s the breakdown of his key goals en route to his century:
Goal 1, Match 1: West Ham 0-2 Man City – August 7, 2022
Haaland took no time to announce his arrival in the Premier League with a debut double, the first coming from the penalty spot nine minutes before half-time on the opening weekend of the season.
His second that day would offer a better indication of what was to come – racing onto Kevin De Bruyne’s perfect pass in behind and smartly slotting beyond Alphonse Areola.
Goal 10, Match 6: Aston Villa 1-1 Man City – September 3, 2022
Just six Premier League games into his Etihad spell Haaland hit double figures, having already scored back-to-back hat-tricks to end August. It was another combination with De Bruyne to give them the lead at Villa Park – with Sky Sports’ Lewis Jones labelling the pair the new “deadly double act”.
Goal 25, Match 19: Man City 3-0 Wolves – January 22, 2023
A fourth hat-trick in his debut season brought Haaland to his quarter-century in his 19th game, almost sealing the golden boot with less than half the season gone, as his breathtaking form continued – even though he had already played in five games without scoring.
Even with his incredible numbers, Pep Guardiola was forced to bat away accusations after the game that City had become a “worse” team as a result of the Norwegian’s style.
Goal 50, Match 48: Man City 1-1 Liverpool – November 25, 2023
Haaland became the fastest Premier League player in history to reach 50 goals, still averaging more than a goal a game, giving Shearer his first reason to worry by beating his long-standing record by 19 matches. His finish was a fine example of his poacher’s instinct, taking advantage of a poor clearance by Alisson Becker to pounce for the opener.
Goal 100, Match 111: Fulham vs Man City – December 2, 2025
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Erling Haaland nets 100th Premier League goal in fastest time EVER!
After blanking in his previous two games against Newcastle and Leeds, it was third time lucky to reach his century as Haaland lashed Jeremy Doku’s low ball beyond a helpless Bernd Leno to bring up his century against Fulham – his seventh goal against the Cottagers.
Carra: Haaland the greatest to do it in England
Speaking earlier this month when Haaland netted in a ninth successive game, Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher hailed the Norwegian as the best goalscorer English football had ever seen.
“I honestly can’t remember Jimmy Greaves, Dixie Dean and all those players from years ago. But I think of Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, Harry Kane and Ian Rush for my club Liverpool,” he said.
“There’s a difference for me between a great centre-forward or striker and a goalscorer. I think what we’re witnessing now is something we’ve never seen before in our game and don’t forget, this is a club where the goalscorer beforehand was Sergio Aguero, one of the greatest we’ll ever see.
“This is on a completely different level to Aguero. He’s the best.”
Guardiola went one step further earlier this month in comparing the juggernaut to Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in terms of his output.
“Have you seen the numbers of the guy?” he said. “Of course, he’s at that level. The numbers from Ronaldo and Messi, the only difference is they were doing it for 15 years. Cristiano is still doing it in Saudi, Lionel in the MLS.
“It’s the way he shoots, he believes he’s going to score. It’s starvation. The numbers are top. I’ve said many times how incredibly coachable and manageable he is. I’m tough with him sometimes, and ask him to do things better. But it’s always open-minded.
“There are players who would be thinking: ‘What are you talking about?’ But he’s completely down to earth.”
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Man City boss Pep Guardiola compared Haaland to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo after their Premier League win over Bournemouth, where his striker scored two goals
When could Haaland break Shearer’s all-time record?
It’s already becoming a case of when rather than if Haaland should break Shearer’s all-time record, which has stood since his final Premier League goal in April 2006.
“I know about it but I don’t think too much about it,” he told Sky Sports after reaching his ton.
But maybe he should – if Haaland continues remains at Manchester City and keeps up his current level of fitness, having missed just 14 league games across more than three seasons at the Etihad, he’s set to overtake Shearer in September 2030, shortly after his 30th birthday.
In fact, if he keeps up his form up to this point up until the end of the nine-and-a-half year deal he signed in January, he’ll end up with 389 goals – beating it by 129. Even if he doesn’t reach that tally, he could easily beat up a lead which stands even longer than Shearer’s.
Who have been Haaland’s favourite opponents?
Haaland joined Harry Kane in February 2024 in becoming the only Premier League player to score against every opponent they had faced (including three or more teams) when he netted the only goal in a 1-0 win over Brentford.
He has since gone on to add another two victims to that list in Ipswich and Luton – but no-one has proven a more popular opponent for Haaland than Wolves, who have conceded a goal every 48.6 minutes on average against the centurion.
Of the four clubs he has netted only one against, two have since been relegated in Luton and Sheffield United – though he has played only 81 and 90 minutes against them respectively.
Ipswich are the club he has been the most prolific against in his 100 Premier League goals, scoring on average every 38 minutes against the Tractor Boys.
And where would Man City be without him?
It’s hard to overstate exactly how crucial Haaland has been to City in the three years since he has joined the club – to the point he has even evaded Guardiola’s famous rotation for most of his time at the club, and has been dubbed undroppable by his manager.
Why? Numbers. He has netted almost 35 per cent of Manchester City’s goals since his double on his debut in August 2022, with Phil Foden a distant second – and he has only scored 12 times since the start of last season.
