A special night: Erling Haaland proud after setting Premier League goalscoring record

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has reflected on a “special night” after his goal against West Ham earned him the record for scoring the most goals in a single Premier League season.

Haaland claimed the achievement in the 70th minute when he ran in on goal from a Jack Grealish pass and unplugged Lukasz Fabianski to make it to his 35th league goals this season.

It moved the Norwegian past Andy Cole and Alan Shearer, who had previously held the record for his efforts in the 1993-94 and 1994-1995 seasons respectively.

“A special night and a special moment. Yes, I am very happy and proud,” Haaland told Sky Sports.

“Of course he knew. Of course, but we try to create the chances to score goals. It was not easy.

“They came here to try to defend for 90 minutes and we struggled a bit in the first half, but in the second half, Nath (Ake) scored, I scored and the last Phil (Foden) of course scored, so it was a important victory. ”

An early penalty at Fulham on Sunday saw Haaland equal the tally of 34 goals achieved by Cole and Shearer, but he was forced to wait a few days before coming fully to the fore.

He was given a full-time honor guard by his City teammates in the coming summer following his achievement in a 3-0 win that lifted Pep Guardiola’s side back to the top of the Premier League.

I’m going to go home now and play some video games and eat something and then sleep. That is what I will do and tomorrow we have to start thinking about Leeds. That is my life

Erling Haaland

The next individual goal in Haaland’s sights is Dixie Dean’s 63-goal feat for Everton in the 1927-28 campaign.

But Haaland, on the 51 goals of the campaign, insisted: “No, I don’t think about that now. I’ll sleep through this game and wake up tomorrow and think about trying to get three points here against Leeds.

“It’s not going to be easy with a new coach and everything, but we can’t keep thinking about these records. My head would go crazy, I would go crazy in my head not to think about this.

“I’m going to go home now and play some video games, eat something and then sleep. That is what I will do and tomorrow we have to start thinking about Leeds. That is my life.”

Haaland revealed that his teammate Grealish wanted to be the player to set up his record-breaking goal.

The three points for City kept them firmly in control of the title race and on course to secure the treble, but the 22-year-old Haaland reiterated that his focus will remain on the next game at home to Leeds on Saturday.

“You see what my first thought is, to run towards the goal,” added Haaland.

“Jack and I talked about it before the game. He wanted to give me the assist for the record goal and I knew that he would get the ball there. I saw the goalkeeper coming and it was a perfect ball from Jack.

“It was a nice feeling as every goal I score and especially winning the game is also very important. This honor guard was really painful. Everyone hit me on the back, but it was nice and I’m very happy.

“As I said, everyone knows it (the treble) is possible, but we can’t think about the FA Cup final against Manchester United right now. We play Leeds in three days and if you do this, you’re not right in the head.

“So you have to think about the next game and focus because every game, the last nine games are all final.”

Fellow goalscorer Nathan Ake praised his “humble” teammate.

“It’s crazy. You know how he came in and does what he does every day, today he scored again,” Ake told Sky Sports.

“Honestly he deserves everything he gets, he works very hard and is a great player.

“The way he works hard, the way he is for the team and how humble he remains after all the road. He’s a great addition and I hope he can score even more.”