Football writer Dan Edwards looks at Erling Haaland's historic night in one of the Premier League's highest-scoring matches ever as Manchester City beat Fulham 5-4.
On a night where all eyes were on Erling Haaland’s quest to become the 35th - and quickest - player to join the Premier League’s 100 Club, it was only right that he did so in one of the competition’s highest-scoring matches.
Manchester City’s 5-4 defeat of Fulham at Craven Cottage was the 32nd match in Premier League history to see nine or more goals scored, and the first since Tottenham Hotspur 3-6 Liverpool in December 2024.
Highest-scoring Premier League matches
| Goals | Date | Match | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 29/09/07 | Portsmouth v Reading | 7–4 |
| 10 | 29/12/07 | Spurs v Reading | 6–4 |
| 10 | 22/11/09 | Spurs v Wigan | 9–1 |
| 10 | 28/08/11 | Man Utd v Arsenal | 8–2 |
| 10 | 29/12/12 | Arsenal v Newcastle | 7–3 |
| 10 | 19/05/13 | West Brom v Man Utd | 5–5 |
| 9 | 09/04/94 | Norwich v Southampton | 4–5 |
| 9 | 04/03/95 | Man Utd v Ipswich | 9–0 |
| 9 | 26/10/96 | Southampton v Man Utd | 6–3 |
| 9 | 26/08/97 | Blackburn v Sheffield Wednesday | 7–2 |
| 9 | 06/02/99 | Forest v Man Utd | 1–8 |
| 9 | 12/02/00 | West Ham v Bradford | 5–4 |
| 9 | 11/03/00 | Spurs v Southampton | 7–2 |
| 9 | 13/11/04 | Spurs v Arsenal | 4–5 |
| 9 | 11/05/08 | Middlesbrough v Manchester City | 8–1 |
| 9 | 16/01/10 | Chelsea v Sunderland | 7–2 |
| 9 | 14/12/13 | Man City v Arsenal | 6–3 |
| 9 | 22/03/14 | Cardiff v Liverpool | 3–6 |
| 9 | 30/08/14 | Everton v Chelsea | 3–6 |
| 9 | 23/01/16 | Norwich v Liverpool | 4–5 |
| 9 | 26/11/16 | Swansea v Palace | 5–4 |
| 9 | 04/02/17 | Everton v Bournemouth | 6–3 |
| 9 | 14/10/17 | Man City v Stoke | 7–2 |
| 9 | 13/05/18 | Spurs v Leicester | 5–4 |
| 9 | 25/10/19 | Southampton v Leicester | 0–9 |
| 9 | 04/10/20 | Aston Villa v Liverpool | 7–2 |
| 9 | 02/02/21 | Man Utd v Southampton | 9–0 |
| 9 | 26/12/21 | Man City v Leicester | 6–3 |
| 9 | 27/08/22 | Liverpool v Bournemouth | 9–0 |
| 9 | 02/10/22 | Man City v Man Utd | 6–3 |
| 9 | 22/12/24 | Spurs v Liverpool | 3–6 |
| 9 | 02/12/25 | Fulham v Man City | 4–5 |
*Scroll horizontally to see full table
It was the first match in which both teams scored at least four goals since Spurs beat Leicester City 5-4 in May 2018, and if not for a goalline clearance from Josko Gvardiol in the eighth minute of stoppage time, it would have been just the second match ever with five goals apiece, after West Bromwich Albion 5-5 Manchester United in May 2013.
The most thrilling match of the Premier League season so far ultimately fell two goals short of the competition’s highest scoring game of all-time, the famous 7-4 encounter between Portsmouth and Reading in September 2007.
How Haaland's historic night unfolded
There was no sign of the madness to come when Haaland scored his 100th Premier League goal in the 17th minute, before Man City added a second and third prior to half-time through Tijjani Reijnders and Phil Foden.
But when Fulham pulled one back in first-half stoppage time through Emile Smith Rowe, alarm bells will have instantly sounded for Man City, with no appetite for a repeat of Leeds United’s near-comeback last Saturday.
Whatever Pep Guardiola told his players at half-time seemed to work, because they quickly stubbed out any hope of a Fulham revival when Foden scored his second four minutes in to the second half, and City added a fifth soon after when Jeremy Doku’s strike deflected off Sander Berge before looping over Bernd Leno.
But Fulham weren’t done. A cross from Harry Wilson deflected perfectly into the path of Alex Iwobi on the outside of the box and the Nigerian international placed the ball past Gianluigi Donnarumma superbly.
Guardiola perhaps foresaw further danger and elected to bring on fresh legs, with Savinho replacing Doku on the left, and John Stones filling in for Nico Gonzalez in defensive midfield.
Haaland could have reestablished City’s breathing room in the 70th minute when hitting a post for the second time in the game with a header from close range.
And then Fulham scored again. Another cross ricocheted off a Man City player before falling to a player wearing white – this time it was Iwobi’s international team-mate Samuel Chukwueze, and the substitute made sure to plant the ball into the bottom left corner on the half-volley.
The game truly entered all-time classic territory when Chukwueze did it again six minutes later, this time finishing in the opposite corner after Donnarumma’s punched clearance came his way.
Fulham nearly scored a famous equaliser in the 98th minute when Brazilian winger Kevin found fellow substitute Joshua King in the six-yard box, but Gvardiol did brilliantly to race back and clear the ball off the line.
This match will be remembered for years to come but it highlighted the best and worst of this current iteration of Guardiola’s City.
They have now conceded 16 goals in 14 Premier League fixtures this season – at their current rate of concession, it would take title rivals Arsenal close to 30 games to let in the same amount.
Titles are quite simply not won this way, and Guardiola appeared positively shell-shocked when interviewed post-match.
"I know you're going to ask what happened - I don't have an answer! It's the Premier League, right? Football is emotions," said Guardiola.
"All the goals were bad defending on the edge, we went so deep to defend these crosses, we have to occupy the spaces better.
"But we made incredibly good things, against how difficult that team is. Scoring the goals we scored, with quality, and the way we defended - but after, Erling [Haaland] had the chance to make it 6-3, and a minute later 5-4! When that happens, it's just a question of surviving.
"Don't ask me how, the players don't know either, you need luck - and at the end we take it!"
Haaland: I'm really proud
What do you think of when you imagine a typical Haaland goal?
It might be a gravity-defying, acrobatic volley that most footballers - never mind us mere mortals – couldn’t even dream of attempting.
Perhaps it’s a lung-bursting run from the halfway line, Haaland fending off a defender before calmly dinking the ball over the goalkeeper.
Or, maybe, it’s a ferocious shot from the centre of the penalty area after a cut-back from a wide player, the veracity of strike that might one day see him split the netting.
If your mind went to that third option, you won’t have to rely on imagination much longer, because you will be seeing it in highlights packages for years to come.
It’s exactly how Haaland opened the scoring against Fulham.
WATCH: Haaland's goal v Fulham
Unstoppable.
— Manchester City (@ManCity) December 3, 2025
A 100th @premierleague goal for @ErlingHaaland 💯 pic.twitter.com/6VybdqkNB4
"It's huge and I'm really proud," Haaland told Sky Sports. "Of course it's a massive thing, 100 club is a nice thing to be in and I'm happy.
"I knew about it, that's what I tried to do. I try to help the team by scoring goals, that's my job.”
As is typical with Haaland, the goal made him a record-breaker.
Not only did he become the 35th player to join the Premier League’s 100 Club, he did so quicker than any previous member, shattering the record held by Alan Shearer for nearly 30 years.
Tuesday night was Haaland’s 111th appearance in the Premier League, whereas Shearer’s 100th strike came in his 124th match in the competition back in December 1995 for Blackburn Rovers.
Top 10 fastest players to reach 100 PL goals*
| Date | Player | Matches | Opponent |
| 02/12/2025 | Erling Haaland | 111 | Fulham |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30/12/1995 | Alan Shearer | 124 | Spurs |
| 04/02/2018 | Harry Kane | 141 | Liverpool |
| 19/04/2016 | Sergio Aguero | 147 | Newcastle |
| 10/02/2004 | Thierry Henry | 160 | Southampton |
| 12/09/2021 | Mohamed Salah | 162 | Leeds |
| 13/09/1997 | Ian Wright | 173 | Bolton |
| 16/01/1999 | Robbie Fowler | 175 | Southampton |
| 11/05/1997 | Les Ferdinand | 178 | Nott'm Forest |
| 26/04/2003 | Michael Owen | 185 | West Brom |
*Scroll horizontally to see full table
Haaland had the chance to take the record from Shearer at St James’ Park against Newcastle, Shearer’s hometown club, two weekends ago. He came close, but it wasn’t to be.
He missed out on another potential fairy tale story last weekend when failing to score against Leeds – Haaland was born in Leeds in 2000 when his father, Alf-Inge, was on the cusp of leaving Leeds United to join Man City.
It looked like he might be made to wait even longer when he struck the inside of the post this evening against Fulham after being played clean through by Foden in the sixth minute, missing a chance he would typically score with his eyes closed.
He only needed to wait just over 10 more minutes to seal the deal, smashing the ball past a bamboozled Leno after Doku cleverly found him through a host of Fulham defenders.
In truth, the record was never in doubt. In fact, Haaland could have failed to score in every Premier League game until 11 February 2026, when Man City next play Fulham, and he would have still joined the 100 Club faster than any previous player.
But though Haaland was obviously delighted to make history on the night, his attention quickly turned to the task at hand for his club.
"Every game is a different game, you can't think of the game that's been, you need to focus on what's ahead. The reality is we lost against Newcastle [United] and Leverkusen but now we have two in a row and we have to keep going. It's a tough schedule.
"Many games are now in the next month. Game by game and recover for the next one."
Man City are now back within two points of Arsenal before the Gunners face Brentford at home on Wednesday, but the Norwegian’s focus remains with his own side’s efforts.
"Fulham are a great team but we shouldn't think too much about Arsenal. We should focus on ourselves. Today wasn't good enough and we know this. We need to improve as a team and that's what we'll do."
Man City’s next game sees them host Sunderland at the Etihad Stadium this coming Saturday, before travelling to face Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League four days later.