Haaland Breaks Record, Sends Man City Atop Premiership Table

• As Cityzens hammer West Ham 3 – 0 at Etihad

After a goalless first 45 minutes, Manchester City should be happy snatching a comfortable victory that saw them return to the Premiership summit beating relegation-threatened West Ham United 3 – 0 on Wednesday night.

Indeed, focused on retaining their title, the inevitable occurred in the 70th minute as Erling Haaland stampeded forward, took Jack Grealish’s delivery and, with West Ham’s keeper, Lukasz Fabianski advancing, the goal scoring phenomenon feathered a spiralling lob over him for a record Premier League goal No 35 on Wednesday night.

With the goal, the Norwegian international eclipsed the tallies of Alan Shearer and Andy Cole and, more vitally, doubled Manchester City’s lead against a doughty West Ham that ended up losing 0 – 3 by the final whistle.

It was a difficult first 45 minutes for City with Mahrez and Grealish having shots saved by Keeper Fabianski and Rodri hitting the inside of the post.

West Ham defended well but conceded a soft goal soon after the break. Mahrez’s free-kick from the edge of the box found Ake, with the defender powering his header into the ground to beat Fabianski. Haaland then broke the Premier League record for most goals in a single season, netting his 35th of the campaign to double City’s advantage.

It was Grealish who broke free on the counter, threading a through-ball into Haaland’s feet, that saw the striker getting behind the West Ham defence to chip his effort over the goalkeeper.

Foden then completed the rout. He blasted his strike towards the goal from the edge of the box, with the ball deflecting off Emerson and into United’s net.

With the victory, Pep Guardiola’s blue machine are back on top again with five matches remaining in the quest to emulate Manchester United and claim a hat-trick of titles.

Of the historic strike, Haaland said; “My first thought is to run towards the goal – me and Jack spoke before the game and he said he wanted to give me the assist for the record. It was the perfect ball, the really perfect bounce as I chip the ball [in].”

For this, the first of City’s two matches in hand over Arsenal, Guardiola decided to rest Ederson so Stefan Ortega enjoyed a competition debut: this appeared a faint gamble yet by the end it was merely the manager’s latest smart decision.

Up next four the defending champions is an encounter with a Leeds United side that have conceded an astounding 67 goals in 34 outings. However, they will now be up against a different challenge, with Sam Allardyce managing his first match for the club.

As for West Ham, the battle hots up at the other end of the table, being just four points away from the relegation zone. They host Manchester United in their upcoming game. – With The Guardian report