Erling Braut Haaland has broken Lionel Messi’s scoring record under Pep Guardiola after finding the net in Manchester City’s 4-0 Premier League victory against Southampton at the Etihad Stadium this afternoon.
The 22-year-old has enjoyed a record-breaking start to his Citizens career following his £51m summer transfer from Borussia Dortmund.
Haaland had scored a remarkable 19 goals in just 12 appearances for City across all competitions before the visit of Southampton, including a brace in the 5-0 Champions League victory over Copenhagen on Wednesday.
The Norway international continued his scoring spree with a sweeping left-footed strike in the 65th minute against the Saints to put the Citizens four goals in front at the Etihad, after Joao Cancelo, Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez had found the net before him.
In doing so, Haaland has surpassed former Barcelona star Lionel Messi for the longest scoring run under Guardiola’s management.
Messi, who currently plies his trade with Paris Saint-Germain, scored in nine successive Barca matches between October and November 2010, netting 15 goals in total, during a successful period under Guardiola at Camp Nou.
However, Haaland has now scored in 10 consecutive games for Guardiola’s Man City, finding the net 18 times in total.
The 6ft 5in striker’s first goal during this run helped the Citizens rescue a point in a 3-3 draw against Newcastle United at the end of August, before scoring successive home hat-tricks against Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest.
A solitary strike in the 1-1 draw with Aston Villa was then followed by three goals in two Champions League appearances against Sevilla and former club Dortmund.
Haaland netted the opener in City’s 3-0 away victory against Wolverhampton Wanderers before the international break, before scoring a record-breaking hat-trick in the 6-3 derby win over Manchester United last weekend.
Haaland’s latest strike against Southampton has seen him move onto 15 Premier League goals after just nine appearances this term, eight clear of his nearest challenger Harry Kane (seven) in second place.
With 29 Premier League games still remaining, the Norwegian needs to score 18 more goals to break Mohamed Salah’s Golden Boot record of 32 set in the 2017-18 campaign, while 20 more strikes would see City’s number nine surpass Alan Shearer and Andy Cole’s joint all-time record of 34 top-flight goals set during a 42-game season.
Meanwhile, Citizens playmaker Kevin De Bruyne has moved above Arsenal legend Dennis Bergkamp (94) into fifth outright on the all-time Premier League assist list, taking his tally to 95 in the competition after setting up Foden for City’s second goal against Southampton.
De Bruyne has also surpassed former City star David Silva (93) to become the club’s all-time leading assister in the Premier League.
Guardiola’s side have moved to the top of the Premier League table with their four-goal victory over Southampton, two points clear of Arsenal who lock horns with Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
