Summary: Manchester City - West Ham 0:3 (Sport1)
Without the injured Kevin de Brauna, and knowing that Arsenal returned to the top of the Premier League after a victory over Chelsea, Manchester City and Erling Holland recorded an impressive victory yesterday (Wednesday) with 0:3 over West Ham on the way to returning to the top of the table in England.
Apart from retaking first place, the main thing they were talking about at the end was the incredible achievement of the Norwegian striker who scored his 35th Premier League goal of the season with a great chip over Fabianski en route to smashing the Premier League single-season goalscoring record.
Holland became the first player since 1966/67 to score such a number of goals in the Kingdom, when it was Ron Davies who finished the season with 37 goals for Southampton.
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Holland (Photo: GettyImages)
The Norwegian overtook Andy Cole and Alan Shearer for the most goals in a Premier League season, when he did so in just 33 games, compared to the legendary striker duo who achieved the feat of 34 goals in a 42-game season in England as was customary at the time.
Now, apart from winning the Premier League and the Champions League, the next goal for the mighty Citizens striker is Lionel Messi's record from the 2011/12 season.
In that season, the flea scored 73 goals in 60 games, when the Norwegian is currently 22 away from the Argentinian's record.
This season, Holland scored 51 goals in all competitions, with Kylian Mbappe in second place by a considerable distance behind him with 35 goals.
Holland received a "guard of honor" from City players at the end, on the occasion of the special occasion of breaking the record.
In the locker room he is seen giving a thank you speech to his teammates, being excited and happy.
"It's a special evening and a special moment," he told the media.
"I'm happy and proud of myself. It's an amazing feeling to break the record, and an even more amazing feeling to do it after we got 3 points and took another step towards the goal. That's what matters in the end. I would give up all these records so that we could meet the goal we set for ourselves and win this season in all degrees".
Holland is already having trouble keeping track of the records he is breaking, and unlike other great players in history (like Cristiano Ronaldo, for example), he comes back and claims that the records do not concern him and do not disturb his rest.
"Tomorrow morning I will get out of bed and think about how we get 3 points against Leeds... If I think about all these records on time, it will drive me crazy," he says.
"Therefore all I will do is go home from here, play some video games, eat something small and go to sleep. The most ordinary and most banal things there are."
Holland also said that the "guard of honor" that the players did for him, which included displays of affection including "slaps" of various kinds, was "quite painful."
He also revealed that he planned with Jack Grealish the move that led to the record breaking.
"We talked before the game, he told me he wanted to be the one to score the goal for me and break the record... I knew that was what was going to happen."
The "tribute" to Holland at the end in honor of the goal record
The thank you speech in the dressing room
Beyond Holland's amazing record, Pep Guardiola also reached an impressive achievement with 1000 goals scored by his team since joining the club in 2016.
For comparison, the next in line in the Premier League is Liverpool with 797 conquests, with Pep's City scoring the most goals under him of any team in Europe's top five leagues at this time and only with the Spaniard's 404 games on the lines.
The City coach laughed at Holland's critics at the beginning of his career: "I remember that in the Community Shield game against Liverpool they said he would not adapt to Premier League football," and added: "1,000 goals here at the club? Not bad."
Guardiola praised Holland and said: "He is simply a tremendous player, and it is even more amazing to think that he is only 22 years old, and his crazy rate of goals. We have five more games left this season, and I don't know how many times I have already replaced him in the 60th minute to save powers. If I hadn't done that, he would have scored more. He's just a special player. When we brought him in, we expected him to break those records. It's not really a surprise to anyone. He deserved to get such a guard of honor, because he achieved a huge feat. He He will continue to break all kinds of conquest records in the future."
Also with an impressive landmark.
Guardiola (Photo: Reuters)
The remaining games for Manchester City this season in the Premier League:
Manchester City - Leeds
Everton - Manchester City
Manchester City - Chelsea
Brighton - Manchester City
Brentford - Manchester City
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