Erling Haaland scored his 100th goal for Manchester City when he opened the scoring in Sunday's Premier League match against Arsenal.
Haaland reached the milestone in the ninth minute, toe-poking beyond David Raya to give City the lead. The game ended in a 2-2 draw thanks to a dramatic late leveller, but Haaland once again showed why he is considered one of the best strikers in world football.
We take a look at how the Norwegian reached 100 goals in only 105 games for the Premier League title holders.
Haaland's goals in competitions
Haaland has been a virtual goal-a-game striker since his emergence at Austrian side RB Salzburg in the 2019/20 season and through his spell at Borussia Dortmund, and that ratio has continued with City.
He has 73 goals in 71 Premier League appearances, winning the Golden Boot in both his full seasons and leading the way again early in the current campaign after hat-tricks against Ipswich Town and West Ham United and a brace against Brentford.
The Uefa Champions League has brought him 18 goals in 21 City appearances, contributing to a career record of 41 in 40 which already places him in the top 20 goalscorers in the history of Europe’s elite competition.
Haaland’s century is completed by eight FA Cup goals and one in the League Cup. City have won two Premier League titles, an FA Cup, the Champions League and the Club World Cup since his arrival in the summer of 2022 for €60 million.
How he scores
Haaland is predominantly left-footed, so it is no surprise to learn the majority of his City goals have come via that method.
The 24-year-old striker has notched 73 goals with his left foot and 14 with his right. Despite being 1.94m tall, the Norwegian only has 12 headed goals in City colours.
Fastest to 100 career goals
Haaland's strike against Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium to take him to 100 goals came in only 105 games for the English club.
That puts him level with Cristiano Ronaldo, who reached the mark in the same number of games for Real Madrid.
That puts Haaland ahead of the likes of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, who is third on the list having notched a century of goals for Barcelona in 120 games.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is fourth on the list, bringing up 100 goals for Paris Saint-Germain in 124 games, while Ronaldo is also tied fifth with 100 Manchester United goals in 135 matches.
Hat-tricks
Haaland’s eight Premier League hat-tricks already see him ranked joint fourth since the top flight’s 1992 rebranding, alongside Thierry Henry, Harry Kane and Michael Owen. He trails only Robbie Fowler with nine, the competition’s record scorer Alan Shearer with 11 and former City striker Sergio Aguero with 12.
He scored four goals in a game against Wolves in May, following a treble against the same opponents in January 2023.
He has twice achieved the feat in back-to-back league games, against Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest in his fourth and fifth Premier League appearances and then Ipswich and West Ham this season.
Only six players have scored hat-tricks in successive Premier League appearances and only Haaland and Kane have achieved the feat more than once – Kane against Leicester (four goals) and Hull in May 2017 and then Burnley and Southampton in December of the same year.
Haaland averages one hat-trick every nine Premier League appearances, with Manchester United and Fulham his other victims.
His three for City in other competitions also include a pair in consecutive matches, scoring five goals against Leipzig in the Champions League and then three against Barnsley in the FA Cup in his debut season. He also scored five in a 6-2 FA Cup win over Luton Town last term.
Records
Haaland’s 36 goals in his debut Premier League season broke the competition record of 34 set by Andy Cole in 1993/94 and equalled by Alan Shearer the following season, both when teams still played 42 games rather than 38.
His 56 in all competitions that season were also the most ever for a Premier League player, shattering the record of 44 by Ruud van Nistelrooy for Manchester United in 2002/03 and Mohamed Salah for Liverpool in 2017/18.
Haaland is the fastest player to 10, 25 and 50 Premier League goals, reaching the marks in six, 19 and 48 games respectively, and to 25 Champions League goals which he achieved in 20 appearances. His nine goals in the first four games of this season set an unprecedented pace.
His five against Leipzig equalled the record for most goals in a single Champions League game, which he shares with Messi and Adriano.
