Erling Haaland sets new scoring record

Erling Haaland has set yet another scoring record.

By netting the third goal for Manchester City in their defeat of Bayern Munich in their Champions League first leg quarter final tie, he has become the first Premier League player ever to score 45 club goals in a single season.

And with still potentially more than a dozen games to go this campaign for the Norwegian, he seems on course to set new benchmarks.

Already his side have one foot in the Champions League semi-finals. The German champions have a mountain to climb if they hope to turn the tie around in front of their own fans in Munich next week. 

A model of efficiency

Yet again this was a match where Haaland touched the ball only 28 times, fewer than any other starting outfield player on either side.

That has often been the case for City this season, but that does not prevent him being a constant threat, with his ability to run off the ball and behind opposing defences.

He is an archetype penalty box striker – of his 45 goals, all but one have been scored in the opposition’s penalty area. Primarily left footed, 28 of his strikes have come off his preferred side, 10 with his right foot, and the remaining seven via his head.

In addition he has sixth assists, the latest coming in this game when his cross found the head of Bernardo Silva for City’s second goal on the night.

That was his fifth goal against Bayern in his career, having played regularly against them when he was wearing a Borussia Dortmund shirt, but this was the first time he had ever beaten them. 

How he compares

The previous best for a Premier League player in a single season was 44 goals, a record held jointly by Ruud van Nistleroy when he was playing for Manchester United, and Liverpool’s Mo Salah.

Both took 52 games in all competitions to reach that mark, Haaland has surpassed them having played 13 games less.

The only top-flight English player to have scored more in one season was Tottenham’s Clive Allen. He scored 49 goals for the North London club in the 1986 – 1987 season in all competitions, but that was before the Premier League era.

Haaland has already beaten the City record for goals in a single season that had stood for 94 years, since Tommy Johnson found the net for them 38 times in the 1928-1929 season. 

Haaland has scored 30 Premier League goals this season, and needs four more to equal the all-time record jointly held by Alan Shearer and Andy Cole currently.

He is also one behind van Nistlerooy’s current record of 12 goals for a Premier League player in a single Champions League campaign.

Unless Bayern can pull off a miracle comeback, he will have at least three goals more in the competition to better that. 

A bad night for Bayern

New Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel had admitted to having sleepless nights ahead of the meeting with City at the Etihad, and this result would have done nothing to make him rest easier in his bed.

In truth, he has goalkeeper Yann Sommer to thank for the result not being even worse, the Swiss international making a number of top class saves on the night.

In principle, his side can still turn things round at the Allianz Arena in Munich next week.

In practice, though, he will need City to have an off night, and given their current winning streak, that looks unlikely. And, with the German side forced to attack from the opening whistle, that will leave them vulnerable in defence, leaving the type of gaps that Haaland loves to exploit. 

Next up for City

Before the two sides meet again, City have a Premier League match against relegation haunted Leicester City at the weekend.

They will be odds-on favourites against a team that have only picked up eight points since the World Cup, and who are now under the management of Dean Smith until the end of the season.

Already Haaland will be licking his lips in anticipation as to what he can do against one of the most porous defences in the league.