Haaland details "painful" Man City guard of honour after Premier League record

03 May 2023 , 22:02

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Erling Haaland has reflected on his record-breaking goal (Image: Sky Sports)

Erling Haaland was given a “painful” guard of honour by his Manchester City teammates after becoming the first player to score 35 goals in a Premier League season.

Haaland's 70th minute goal was his 51st of the season in all competitions, as Pep Guardiola's side went back to the top of the table, ahead of title rivals Arsenal.

Norway striker Haaland was last to leave the pitch at the Etihad, with Guardiola, City's players and coaching staff lining up on either side of him to salute his record-breaking achievement.

Nathan Ake opened the scoring, Haaland added a second, with Phil Foden's 85th-minute volley the 1,000th goal City have scored since Guardiola took over back in 2016.

On his guard of honour, Haaland said: "I’ve never seen that before at the end - it was a nice feeling. It was painful, as everyone hit me on the back, but it was nice and I was really happy. I don’t think about personal records.

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"My head would become crazy, so I won’t think about it. I'll play some video games, sleep and think about Leeds. But it was a special night and a special moment. Of course, I knew about the record, but we tried to create chances to score goals. We struggled a bit in the first half but got the goals.

“Everyone knows the Treble is possible, but we can’t think about that now. Every game now is a final.”

Erling Haaland received a guard of honour from his Manchester City teammates (Getty Images)

City boss Guardiola paid tribute to Haaland and said: “I think he deserved it [the guard of honour] because he's a special striker.

“We thought about doing it before, I think in football, when there is a special occasion, you have to show how special it is. He's incredible. He's just 22 and still has five league games left this season. To break the record of Andy Cole and Alan Shearer, two incredible top strikers, is so special.”

West Ham boss David Moyes said: "I was really disappointed to lose the first goal to a set-piece. They might have scored better goals. We carried a bit of luck at time - with the shot off the post - but we deserved it. We did a good job."

David McDonnell