Two Manchester City stars entered the Premier League record books as they returned from the World Cup break with a 3-1 win over Leeds United at Elland Road. Goals from Rodri and Erling Haaland put the visitors in the driving seat, and even a late header from Leeds defender Pascal Struijk could not prevent Pep Guardiola’s side from picking up a valuable win and leapfrogging Newcastle into second place in the top flight.
And, in doing so, two of their stars came away as record holders. First was Ederson, whose win was the 150th of his Premier League career. Having played just 197 games in an all-conquering Manchester City side, the Brazilian shot-stopper became the quickest player to reach that milestone, ahead of fellow teammates Fernandinho and Kevin De Bruyne and sixteen games earlier than former Manchester United defender Patrice Evra.
150 – Ederson has won 150 of his 197 games in the Premier League, becoming the quickest player to reach 150 victories in the competition:
197 – Ederson
213 – Patrice Evra
215 – Kevin De Bruyne
216 – Fernandinho
217 – Petr CechDominance. pic.twitter.com/b8B6EqK5h7
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 28, 2022
Meanwhile, Erling Haaland once again wrote himself into the record books, grabbing his 44th and 45th goals in 42 games this season across games with Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City and Norway.
In doing so, he brought up 20 goals in the Premier League after just 14 appearances, becoming the fastest player to ever reach that landmark in top flight history. The record had previously been held by Thierry Henry, who managed the feat in 34 games, one fewer than Liverpool’s Mo Salah.
Meanwhile, fellow World Class strikers Luis Suarez and Harry Kane could only manage the feat in 50 and 40 games respectively, practically a snail’s pace behind Haaland’s supersonic goalscoring speed.
Games needed to reach 20 Premier League goals:
🇳🇴 Haaland: 14
🇫🇷 Henry: 34
🇪🇬 Salah: 35
🏴 Kane: 40
🇺🇾 Suarez: 50😳😳😳 pic.twitter.com/NTHZhyIHbC
— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) December 28, 2022
Currently on course for over 60 Premier League goals this season should he remain injury free, he would obliterate the current record of a season (34, held jointly by Alan Shearer and Andy Cole), while he currently has more goals than 9 of the clubs in the English top flight in what is already set to be a historic debut season.
