Erling Haaland broke a 92-year old goal record as Manchester City edged out Fulham 2-1 at Craven Cottage to go top of the Premier League table.
The Norway international slotted home a third minute penalty Craven Cottage to become the first top-flight player to score 50 goals in all competitions since 1931.
“Before Winston Churchill was Prime Minister? Wow. Sounds a long time ago. Congratulations to Erling. The best goal to help us achieve what we want is still there,” City boss Pep Guardiola said.
Haaland also tied Alan Shearer and Andy Cole for the most goals scored in a single Premier League season.
In 1995, Shearer scored 34 goals for Blackburn, and in 1994, Cole scored the same number of goals for Newcastle.
Carlos Vinicius tied the game for Fulham, but Alvarez’s brilliant long-range goal, his first in six games, put City one point ahead of second-place Arsenal.
“The game was so tight until the end. We knew after we beat Arsenal that winning these types of games is really important. The players behaved amazingly,” added Guardiola.
“The Alvarez goal was extraordinary. We have incredible strikers.”
City, which is trying for a treble, is in first place for the first time in 10 weeks. They have won their last eight league games and haven’t lost in their last 18 games in all competitions.
Guardiola’s red-hot team is one game ahead of Arsenal, so they need to win five of their last six games to be sure of their fifth title in six seasons.
Since Haaland doesn’t look like he’s going to stop scoring goals, not many people would bet against them taking advantage of Arsenal’s fall.
“It’s important but on Tuesday Arsenal will play. Important is the West Ham game, it’s a game in hand. After that we’ll be top of the table and it will be more real,” Guardiola said.
Arsenal hasn’t won in their last four games, and they play Chelsea on Tuesday. On Wednesday, City plays West Ham at home.
As soon as Wednesday’s crucial 4-1 win over Arsenal was over, Guardiola shot down suggestions that the title race was over.
Photo by EPA/NEIL HALL
