Erling Haaland is inevitable: How Man City goal machine has completed impressive Premier League scoring feat

By Oliver Thomas | 20 Sep 2026 17:00, Last updated: 20 Sep 2026 17:14

Erling Haaland has achieved yet another impressive Premier League scoring feat after helping Manchester City beat Sunderland 5-3 in an action-packed Etihad Stadium contest on Sunday.

The Norwegian striker was recalled to Enzo Maresca’s starting lineup after being rested on Thursday when a much-changed Citizens side eased to a 5-0 victory over Norwich City in the EFL Cup third round.

Enzo Fernandez, Rayan Cherki and Antoine Semenyo (2) all got their names on the scoresheet against Sunderland in a topsy-turvy game that also saw Brian Brobbey net a hat-trick for the Black Cats.

Man City’s victory was sealed nine minutes from time when Josko Gvardiol beat the offside trap and rolled the ball across the penalty area for Haaland to tap home from close range.

Haaland has now scored seven goals in as many appearances for Man City across all competitions this season, with five of those netted in the Premier League to put him top of the goalscorer charts heading into the international break.

The 26-year-old’s latest strike means that he has now scored against all 25 teams he has faced in the Premier League across his four years at Man City.

West Ham United are the opponent that Haaland has enjoyed facing the most, having scored 11 times in just eight top-flight meetings with the Hammers.

Haaland has also netted 10 times against both Crystal Palace and Wolverhampton Wanderers, while he recently became the all-time leading scorer in Premier League Manchester derbies with nine goals.

However, Haaland is still chasing England striker Harry Kane, who is the only other player to face multiple Premier League opponents and score against every single one of them, boasting a perfect 32-for-32 record during his time at Tottenham Hotspur.

Since arriving at the Etihad in the summer of 2022, Haaland has scored a total of 117 goals in 137 Premier League matches, putting him 22nd on the all-time top-scorer list.

Across all competitions, Haaland has now scored 169 goals in 205 appearances for the Citizens, just eight goals behind legend Eric Brook (177) who is the second-highest scorer in City’s 132-year history.

However, Man City’s No.9 is still some way behind Sergio Aguero’s record of 260 strikes for the Sky Blues.

Reacting to Man City’s victory in an eight-goal thriller, Maresca told Sky Sports: “Too many goals, too many goals! I prefer [to win] 1-0, much better.

"I expected a very difficult game, I knew how good they are; off the ball they are aggressive, on the ball they have different weapons, set-pieces, [Brian] Brobbey. I know that it was a difficult game, but happy because we found a way to win."

"Two of the three goals we conceded were too easy; the second goal came from [Granit] Xhaka's quick free-kick and that cannot happen. The third goal came from another free-kick. Too easy, we conceded more chances, but we also scored five and could have scored probably two or three more."

“Overall the performance from the players was good, and I also liked it because today they needed to deal with different kinds of things; second balls, duels, this kind of thing."

Man City will now enter the international break sitting top of the Premier League table with a maximum 15 points from five games, three points clear of champions Arsenal who suffered a 3-0 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.

The Citizens will next be in action on October 11 when they travel to Anfield to lock horns with Liverpool in the Premier League, three days before playing host to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.

Get FREE daily news and in-depth previews for games from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football — straight to your inbox.