Erling Haaland added another astonishing chapter to his Manchester City story on Tuesday night as the Norwegian became the fastest player in history to reach 100 Premier League goals, marking the milestone in a chaotic 5-4 victory over Fulham at Craven Cottage.
Haaland’s emphatic first-half finish – his 15th league strike of the season – arrived in just his 111th Premier League appearance, smashing Alan Shearer’s long-standing record of 124 matches. The landmark goal, a thunderous effort steered beyond Bernd Leno after a perfectly measured Jeremy Doku cut-back, underlined once again why City’s No 9 has redefined the scoring landscape since arriving from Borussia Dortmund in 2022.
His manager, Pep Guardiola, paid glowing tribute to the striker afterwards. “It’s incredible, impressive,” he said. “He was outstanding. Hopefully he’s starving hungry to continue with this club and to make more and more goals.”
Yet Haaland’s historic night nearly unravelled amid another late defensive wobble from City, who allowed Fulham to turn a seemingly one-sided affair into a frantic finish. What had looked like a comfortable 5-1 lead shrank dramatically as Marco Silva’s side mounted a furious late rally, only for Josko Gvardiol’s goal-line clearance in the dying seconds to spare City’s blushes.
“Did you enjoy that, guys?” Guardiola smiled after the match. “Me? Impossible.
“It’s the Premier League, you can’t control, it’s the Premier League. I know you’re going to ask what happened, and I don’t have an answer.
“It’s the emotion, it’s the football. Why you do this, why you do that? But I’m sorry to tell you, we made incredible things today, incredible, because I know how difficult that team is.
“We proved it and scored the goals that we score and the quality we have done. Erling had a chance for 6-3 and immediately later, 5-4.
“And when that happens, it’s just a question of survival. Don’t tell me how, the players don’t know either. At the end we take it.”
Before the chaos, Guardiola’s side had been irresistible.
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