Erling Haaland scores an acrobatic effort for Manchester City against Southampton in the Premier League in April 2023.

Manchester City’s Erling Haaland reaches 30 Premier League goals with double vs Saints

April 8, 2023 Sports 2 Views

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland marked his return from injury on Saturday with a double to take his tally for the season to 30 in the Premier League as Pep Guardiola’s side thrashed Southampton 4-1 at St. Mary’s.

Haaland missed City’s win against Liverpool last weekend by the same scoreline due to a groin problem, but was back in the starting line-up for this match on the south coast.

The 22-year-old headed home from a Kevin De Bruyne cross to give City the lead late in the first half and added another in spectacular style to make it 3-0 as he converted with an acrobatic effort from a Jack Grealish ball after 68 minutes.

Those two goals take the Norwegian’s total for the season to 30 in the Premier League and 44 in all competitions.

The record for the most goals in a Premier League season is held jointly by former England strikers Alan Shearer and Andy Cole, although both of those were set in 42-game campaigns.

With 38 matches a season, the highest is the 32 scored by Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah in 2017-18, his debut campaign in English football.

In any case, Haaland is set to overtake them all, with nine matches still left for City in the Premier League this season.

His 30 goals have come in just 27 appearances for the champions in 2022-23, meaning he is averaging more than one per game for Guardiola’s side in the Premier League.