So much has been written about the incredible scoring feats of Man City’s star striker Erling Haaland. It seems like barely a match goes by without him setting some new record or chalking up an incredible goal-getting milestone. His start to the 2024/25 Premier League season has been spectacular to say the least, with the Norwegian ace scoring in all five of his club’s opening games.
His haul in the first month or so of the campaign has been staggering, with the former Borussia Dortmund man bagging 10 league goals in the first five matches of the season. That has included two hat-tricks and his most recent goal, against title rivals Arsenal, saw him match a record set by arguably the game’s greatest-ever goalscorer, Cristiano Ronaldo.
On the 22nd of September 2024, Haaland notched after just nine minutes against Mikel Arteta’s men and that strike was his 100th for Man City. It came a little over two years after he signed for the Cityzens, in his 105th game for the club. It means that he is now the joint-holder, alongside CR7, of the record for the fewest games required to reach 100 goals with any side in one of the big five European leagues (Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1).
Haaland had the chance to claim the record outright on the 18th of September when his team hosted Inter Milan in the Champions League. That was his 104th match for City and he went into it on 99 goals in all competitions. However, Inter, who romped to the Serie A title in 2023/24 by 19 points, conceding just 22 goals along the way, managed to keep City at bay. The game ended 0-0, with City’s key hitman managing three shots – one on target, one off target and one blocked – and an xG of 0.33, but ultimately he failed to hit the back of the net.
Fans of Ronaldo, and there are tens of millions who idolise the Portuguese megastar, breathed a sigh of relief, as their hero’s record would remain intact. Indeed, given Haaland’s poor scoring record against Arsenal, they may well have fancied Ronaldo’s chances of holding onto the record outright. In his three previous appearances against the Gunners’ much-vaunted backline the Norway international (32 goals in 35 appearances for his nation) hadn’t managed a single goal. In fact, he hadn’t even registered a shot on target but he took his chance superbly on Sunday to join Ronaldo as the fastest player to a century of goals at a major European side.
Ronaldo’s 100
Ronaldo, who recently scored his 900th career goal, notched his fastest 100 for Real Madrid, although he also scored over 100 times for Man United and Juventus, not to mention doing so for his country as well. However, when he moved to Real he was pretty much at his peak, having netted over 20 goals in each of his last three seasons at Man United, including 42 in 49 games in 2007/08.
He hit the ground running in the Spanish capital, getting 33 goals in his first season, from 35 matches, then bettering that with 53 in 54 the following term. That was the start of a sensational six-season run where he bagged at least 50 goals each campaign for his club, twice breaking the 60 mark.
Like Haaland, he brought up his century early in his third season. Amazingly, of the five fastest players to hit 100 goals for a team in the big five European leagues, Ronaldo features twice! He was undoubtedly past his best when he moved to Italy but even so, he needed just 131 games to reach three figures with Juve. Given he was 33 when he joined the club that was truly an astonishing feat, and shows just how far Haaland – and Kylian Mbappe – have to go before they can truly be mentioned alongside Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
So, in terms of the race to 100, the man from Madeira is joint-first and also fifth, but who is third on that list? Well, it is Uruguayan ace Luis Suarez who is the fastest player to 100 goals behind Ronaldo and Haaland. The former Liverpool star moved to Barcelona in 2014 and raced to his century of goals from just 120 games. Playing alongside Messi and Neymar certainly helped but the recently retired Uruguayan was unquestionably a world-class footballer.
Fourth on the list is a shy, modest player called Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the Swedish colossus needing 124 games to reach 100 goals with PSG. Zlatan, who also played for Man United, AC Milan, Juve, Ajax, Barca and Inter Milan, is another world-class player on this list, and shows the sort of company that Haaland is now keeping.
Haaland’s Hundred
That is more than enough about Ronaldo and the other players who reached three figures in double-quick time, so let us now return to Haaland. In total, the Leeds-born phenomenon now has 287 goals. Given he will not turn 25 until July 2025, barring serious injury there is every chance he will break almost every goalscoring record possible. Whilst his game relies on pace and power to a large degree, his commitment to his conditioning should ensure he remains highly productive well into his 30s.
Landmark reached for Erling Haaland 💯
The forward’s 100th Man City goal gives the hosts the leads over Arsenal 🙌#MCIARS pic.twitter.com/HjRZv8eaKn
— Premier League (@premierleague) September 22, 2024
Ronaldo fans may point out that even if he scores 60 goals a year for the next 10 years, he will still be well shy of their idol’s tally, which is true. That shows just how insane the Portuguese player’s numbers are. But whilst Haaland may struggle to match Ronaldo’s longevity, right now he is scoring at the sort of rate we have only ever seen in modern times from CR7 and Messi.
In fact, if we compare where those three players were at Haaland’s age now, the Norwegian is streets ahead. Whilst he has played fewer games than either of football’s two modern GOATs, he boasts more than double the goals that Ronaldo had, and about a third more than Messi.
His 100 City goals have come at a rate of better than one every 90 minutes (about every 85), with 73% of his strikes coming in the Premier League, 18% in the Champions League and nine in the domestic cups. A big majority have come from his favoured left foot (73 out of the 100), with a surprisingly low number of headers, just twelve. Eighteen of these goals have been from the penalty spot, though he has missed two spot-kicks as well. It promises to be an interesting future for the Norwegian, with records aplenty sure to head his way!