(Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
On a night that delivered drama across the league, Manchester City survived a 5-4 scare at Fulham, Tottenham pinched a 2-2 draw at Newcastle with a 95th minute bicycle kick, and Everton claimed a crucial away win at Bournemouth thanks to a heavily deflected Jack Grealish strike.
City’s match was the wildest of the lot. Erling Haaland reached the 100-goal Premier League milestone with a crisp 17th-minute finish, becoming the fastest player ever to hit the mark.
Phil Foden struck twice and a Jeremy Doku effort deflected in off Sander Berge as City raced to what should have been an unassailable 5-1 lead, only to lose all composure and allow Fulham back to 5-4 in a furious final half-hour. It took a last-second goal-line clearance from Josko Gvardiol to prevent a complete collapse.
Haaland said: “It was chaotic. Nine goals in a game is too much. If you are watching this game at home, it should be match of the day. It was a crazy game.”
Asked what he was thinking at 5-1, Haaland said: “I thought of scoring the sixth, like I always do. At 5-2 or 5-3 I was close and then they went and made it 5-3, so that is football. That is why we love the game.”
The Norwegian acknowledged the significance of his landmark.
“Proud moment. One hundred club is a huge thing. To do it this quickly is amazing. I am proud, I am happy. A striker for City should score a lot of goals. That is my job.”
City remain two points behind Arsenal, who have a game in hand against Brentford on Thursday (AEDT). But the defensive lapses that turned a comfortable evening into a panic will concern Pep Guardiola as the title race tightens.
Tottenham produced late heroics of their own. Cristian Romero scored an outrageous overhead kick in the 95th minute to steal a point at St James’ Park after Spurs had looked set for a sixth defeat in eight matches.
Romero had already cancelled out Bruno Guimaraes’ opener before Anthony Gordon restored Newcastle’s lead from a highly contentious penalty that arrived after Rodrigo Bentancur was ruled, on VAR review, to have pulled down Dan Burn.
The equaliser keeps Thomas Frank’s side slightly ahead of Newcastle in mid-table and provides a rare dose of positivity in what has been a brutal stretch of fixtures.
Everton’s win was far less dramatic but no less important. Grealish’s 78th-minute shot from 20 yards took a heavy touch off Bafode Diakite and wrong-footed Djordje Petrovic, giving the visitors a second straight away victory and their first league triumph at Bournemouth in nine attempts.
Grealish embraced both the fortune and the moment, kissing his badge, despite being on loan from Manchester City.
“In the first half it was an even game. We had good bits of play but we did not really threaten the goal. Then in the second half we got the goal and defended after that. It was difficult but it was a good win.”
On his goal, he was typically self-aware. “I have scored two goals now this season, one was a tackle and one was a deflection, but I got hammered for years for not scoring so I am taking both. It is good to be contributing. It is a brilliant team.”
He also spoke warmly about his connection with Everton and manager David Moyes.
“I love the manager to pieces. I have only known him for a few months and I cannot speak highly enough of him. How he makes me want to go there and play for him, so credit to him.”