Erling Haaland continued to rewrite the Premier League record books as his first-half brace against Leicester City on Saturday took his tally to 32 goals in the competition this season.
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With his 13th-minute penalty against the Foxes, Haaland set a new mark for goals in a debut 38-match Premier League season.
The Manchester City striker's 31st goal took him one ahead of Kevin Phillips’ total of 30 for Sunderland in 1999/00.
Twelve minutes later, Haaland ran on to Kevin De Bruyne’s through-ball to score for a 32nd time, equalling the best tally by any player in a 38-match season, set by Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah in 2017/18.
The joint-most goals in a 38-match #PL season! @ErlingHaaland goes level with @MoSalah 🤝 pic.twitter.com/5Q7QI4Ucl5
— Premier League (@premierleague) April 15, 2023
Haaland was taken off at half-time by Pep Guardiola ahead of a UEFA Champions League second-leg trip to Bayern Munich on Wednesday. It denied him the chance to equal Alan Shearer’s record of five hat-tricks in a Premier League season.
With eight Premier League fixtures still to play, Haaland needs only two more goals to match the overall record of 34 goals in a season, scored across a 42-match campaign by Andrew Cole, in 1993/94, and Shearer, in 1994/95.
It looks like a formality that the Man City star will add the Castrol Golden Boot to his honours this season.
His latest double took him nine goals clear of Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane, who drew a blank against AFC Bournemouth on Saturday.
Despite all the records being claimed by Haaland, Shaun Wright-Phillips believes the Norwegian can get even better next season.
"I feel he will score more goals," said the ex-Man City winger. "With that hunger and desire to score more goals and with the players behind him... giving him chances, he can only get better."