Man City stars give Erling Haaland a guard of honour as he breaks Premier League record with his 35th goal of the season.
- last year
Erling Haaland was given a guard of honor by his Manchester City teammates after breaking the single-season Premier League goal-scoring record.
The Norwegian ran through and made it 2-0 against West Ham with an impudent finish over Lukasz Fabianski, ensuring he went past Andrew Cole and Alan Shearer in the single-season scoring stakes.
Before leaving the pitch at the end of the 3-1 win over the Hammers, Haaland was given a standing ovation by the entire Etihad crowd while his teammates lined up to give him a guard of honor.
The scenes further evidenced Haaland's popularity among his City peers, with the Norwegian said to be a humble and personally admired member of Pep Guardiola's imperious squad.
The full array of players and staff members slapped him on the back of the head and back as he headed off with an enormous grin etched across his face. When he reached the end, he could be seen rubbing his back as if to will away the pain, though the smile remained.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Haaland made public his pride at his achievement, calling it a 'special night'.
'Special night, and a special moment,' he said. 'I’m really happy and proud. Of course, I knew about it, but we tried to create the chances to score goals, we struggled a bit in the first half, but second half Nate (Ake) scored and I scored, as an important win.'
A mistake by Danny Ings shortly after City had taken the lead allowed Haaland to run through and score the all-important second, and he revealed Jack Grealish, who laid on the assist, had said before the game that he wanted to be involved in the crowning moment.
'My first thought is to run towards the goal, I and Jack spoke before the game and he said he wanted to give me the assist for the record,' he said.
'It was the perfect ball. It was the perfect bounce as I chip the ball, I didn’t think of it, but then it was there so I did.
'It was nice feeling [the guard of honor], especially to win the game is also really important. It was really painful, everyone hit me on the back.'
Haaland's 51st goal of the season brought him ever closer to Dixie Dean's seemingly unbeatable record of 65 goals in the 1927-28 campaign. No player in England has ever come much closer to beating it, or indeed matching the feat.
'I don’t think of this, I sleep tonight and then I think about three points against Leeds,' Haaland admitted. 'I will go home now and play some video games and then speak. I cannot say [what video game] it's too embarrassing.'
Lauding his player afterward, Guardiola described Haaland as a 'unique and special' person and footballer.
'It's unbelievable how many goals he has scored and all the important goals he has scored to help us win games and all the things like that... he is a unique person,' he said.
'Player of course, but the person is also so special. It was nice - he deserves the guard of honor we have done for him because of his incredible milestone.'
The Norwegian ran through and made it 2-0 against West Ham with an impudent finish over Lukasz Fabianski, ensuring he went past Andrew Cole and Alan Shearer in the single-season scoring stakes.
Before leaving the pitch at the end of the 3-1 win over the Hammers, Haaland was given a standing ovation by the entire Etihad crowd while his teammates lined up to give him a guard of honor.
The scenes further evidenced Haaland's popularity among his City peers, with the Norwegian said to be a humble and personally admired member of Pep Guardiola's imperious squad.
The full array of players and staff members slapped him on the back of the head and back as he headed off with an enormous grin etched across his face. When he reached the end, he could be seen rubbing his back as if to will away the pain, though the smile remained.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Haaland made public his pride at his achievement, calling it a 'special night'.
'Special night, and a special moment,' he said. 'I’m really happy and proud. Of course, I knew about it, but we tried to create the chances to score goals, we struggled a bit in the first half, but second half Nate (Ake) scored and I scored, as an important win.'
A mistake by Danny Ings shortly after City had taken the lead allowed Haaland to run through and score the all-important second, and he revealed Jack Grealish, who laid on the assist, had said before the game that he wanted to be involved in the crowning moment.
'My first thought is to run towards the goal, I and Jack spoke before the game and he said he wanted to give me the assist for the record,' he said.
'It was the perfect ball. It was the perfect bounce as I chip the ball, I didn’t think of it, but then it was there so I did.
'It was nice feeling [the guard of honor], especially to win the game is also really important. It was really painful, everyone hit me on the back.'
Haaland's 51st goal of the season brought him ever closer to Dixie Dean's seemingly unbeatable record of 65 goals in the 1927-28 campaign. No player in England has ever come much closer to beating it, or indeed matching the feat.
'I don’t think of this, I sleep tonight and then I think about three points against Leeds,' Haaland admitted. 'I will go home now and play some video games and then speak. I cannot say [what video game] it's too embarrassing.'
Lauding his player afterward, Guardiola described Haaland as a 'unique and special' person and footballer.
'It's unbelievable how many goals he has scored and all the important goals he has scored to help us win games and all the things like that... he is a unique person,' he said.
'Player of course, but the person is also so special. It was nice - he deserves the guard of honor we have done for him because of his incredible milestone.'