Erling Haaland Completes Premier League Goal Collection Against Sunderland

Erling Haaland left the Etihad on Sunday with another piece of Premier League history in his pocket.

The late tap-in in Manchester City’s wild 5-3 win over Sunderland didn’t just kill the contest. It completed a collection.

Since arriving in August 2022, Haaland has now faced 25 different clubs in the Premier League. He has scored against every single one of them.

Sunderland, finally ticked off

Sunderland were the last name on the list, and they had been awkwardly underlined for a while. Across his first two league meetings with them, Haaland drew a blank: three shots, 159 minutes, no goal. For a striker who treats droughts like personal insults, it was a rare blind spot.

On Sunday, as the minutes ticked into the 80s and City’s goals came from elsewhere, that gap in his record loomed larger. Then came the 81st minute. A familiar run, a slide at the back post, the net bulging. Sunderland, at last, crossed off.

Not immediately, though. Just as in last week’s Manchester derby, Haaland’s joy was put on hold. The flag went up, VAR stepped in, and the wait began. The decision went his way again. Goal given. Collection complete – for now.

A ruthless spread of goals

The numbers behind that collection underline how relentlessly he has gone about it.

He has terrorised West Ham most of all: 11 goals in eight games. Crystal Palace and Wolverhampton Wanderers have each taken 10 in six and seven matches respectively. Manchester United have felt it too, conceding nine goals to him in eight derbies.

• Fulham have shipped eight in eight.
• Everton and Brighton & Hove Albion have both conceded seven, from six and seven encounters.
• Arsenal have been on the receiving end six times in eight league meetings.
• Burnley, Brentford and Nottingham Forest have each seen him score five.
• Ipswich Town, Southampton, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Bournemouth have all been hit for four.
• Leicester City and Liverpool have limited him to three so far.
• Leeds United have conceded twice.
• Then come the one-goal victims: Sheffield United, Luton Town, Coventry City, Sunderland, Aston Villa and Newcastle United.

Every team he has faced. None spared.

Kane, company and the long view

Haaland’s 25-out-of-25 record puts him in a very select Premier League group, but he is not the first to do it.

Harry Kane remains the standard. During his time at Tottenham Hotspur, he scored against all 32 different opponents he faced in the competition. Since moving to Bayern Munich, he has been close to repeating the trick in Germany as well, scoring against 21 of the 22 Bundesliga sides he has played. Only Schalke 04, faced once, have kept him out there.

Four other names technically share the “scored against every Premier League opponent faced” tag, but their stories are very different. Aidan Newhouse, Gary Bull, Chris David and Josh Harrop each played just a single Premier League game and scored in it. Perfect records, yes, but built on a single afternoon rather than a sustained assault.

Haaland’s streak is built on volume and variety, not a one-off cameo.

Hull on the horizon, Lampard in the distance

There is a catch. The “every team he’s faced” line only holds until the fixture list throws something new at him.

Hull City are next in that regard. Haaland has never faced them in the Premier League. If he plays in City’s final league game before Christmas, currently set for 19 December, the target will be simple: score, and the record stretches to 26 teams out of 26.

Even if he does, the long-term mountain still looms. Frank Lampard owns the Premier League record for most different teams scored against: 39. Andrew Cole sits just behind on 38. Jermain Defoe and all-time Premier League top scorer Alan Shearer are next on 37.

Haaland is miles away from that company in terms of variety. But he has time, he has chances, and he clearly has a taste for ticking names off.

Sunderland were the latest. Hull might be next. How long before Lampard’s mark starts to look less like a distant landmark and more like a target?