The Premier League returned with a bang on Tuesday night as Luton Town's Elijah Adebayo and Sheffield United's Ben Brereton Diaz BOTH scored inside the opening 21 seconds.
The strikes in the respective matches against Brighton & Hove Albion and Crystal Palace made this only the fourth day in Premier League history to have TWO goals scored in the first minute of matches, after 28 November 2012, 30 August 2014 and 26 December 2014.
Adebayo headed in from close range after only 18 seconds against Brighton at Kenilworth Road.
Meanwhile, Brereton Diaz bent a low strike into the bottom-right corner from the edge of the penalty area to stun Palace in a time only three seconds further from kick-off.
They were the second and third-fastest goals scored in the Premier League this season, with Burnley forward Jay Rodriguez netting the quickest goal of the campaign to date at home to Sheffield United in December.
2023/24's fastest goals
| Time | Player | Match | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00:15 | Jay Rodriguez | Burnley v Sheff Utd | 02/12/2023 |
| 00:18 | Elijah Adebayo | Luton v Brighton | 30/01/2024 |
| 00:21 | Ben Brereton Diaz | Crystal Palace v Sheff Utd | 30/01/2024 |
| 00:53 | Vitalii Mykolenko | Crystal Palace v Everton | 11/11/2023 |
| 00:57 | Andreas Pereira | Arsenal v Fulham | 26/08/2023 |
Luton amazingly went on to score another early goal against Brighton on Tuesday, after two minutes and 17 seconds.
They became the second-fastest team to score two goals in a match, after Leicester City went 2-0 up inside two minutes against Derby County in April 1998, with goals from Emile Heskey and Muzzy Izzet.