Haaland breaks record as City beats West Ham 3-0

MANCHESTER: Manchester City striker Erling Haaland scored his record-breaking 35th Premier League goal of the season to help secure a 3-0 victory against West Ham United on Wednesday, a result that sent the reigning champion back to the top of the table.

The marauding Norwegian dinked the ball into the net after 70 minutes to make him the highest scorer in a single Premier League season. With the historic goal, he took his tally in all competitions to 51 in a mind-boggling debut season at City.

Praising Haaland, City manager Pep Guardiola said: “Incredible. He is just 22 and still has five matches [left in the Premier League season]. We expected him to score goals but to break [Andy] Cole and [Alan] Shearer’s records... he is special.”

The treble-chasing City, which began the night in second place after Arsenal’s defeat of Chelsea on Tuesday, was twice denied by the woodwork as it was frustrated by the relegation-threatened West Ham in the first half. But, left-back Nathan Ake made the breakthrough four minutes after the interval with a header from a free-kick.

Haaland then eased the tension around the Etihad Stadium as he glided on to Jack Grealish’s through ball and beat West Ham goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski. In the 85th minute, substitute Phil Foden made it 3-0 with a superbly-struck volley that was deflected.

City, targeting a fifth Premier League title in six seasons under Guardiola, has 79 points from 33 matches with Arsenal on 78 points from 34 games. West Ham remains in trouble in 15th place with 34 points, only four points above the relegation zone.

Home team made to work

City swarmed forward, with Julian Alvarez and Riyad Mahrez forcing routine early saves and Haaland heading a Grealish cross over the bar. West Ham, hampered by the absence of midfielders Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek, defended valiantly with the colossal Angelo Ogbonna heading away cross after cross.

Much to the dismay of the crowd, Grealish’s snap shot hit the outside of the upright while Rodri’s guided strike hit the post and span agonisingly across the face of goal. City failed to turn its 80 per cent possession into a goal and the host had a scare when Jarrod Bowen surged into the area, forcing debutant Ortega Moreno into a sharp save.

West Ham finally cracked four minutes after the interval. Having resisted so well, the visitor was undone by a simple old routine – after Mahrez curled a free-kick towards the far post, Ake rose unchallenged to head past Fabianski and open the scoring.

West Ham looked capable of adding a twist to the title script until Grealish released Haaland for his milestone moment. Foden then put the icing on his side’s ninth successive league win with the 1,000th goal in Guardiola’s City reign.

The night belonged to Haaland, who was given a guard of honour as he walked off, with the cheers of City fans ringing in his ears.

RESULTS: Manchester City 3 (N Ake 49, E Haaland 70, P Foden 85) bt West Ham United 0; Liverpool 1 (M Salah 39(P)) bt Fulham 0