Erling Haaland continued his jaw-dropping assault on the Premier League as he netted a first-half brace to equal Mo Salah's single-season goalscoring record in Manchester City's 3-1 victory over beleaguered Leicester City on Saturday.
Haaland increased his haul to 32 goals to tie Salah's mark for a 38-game season — and the 22-year-old Norwegian scoring machine has eight games still to play.
Only four days earlier, Haaland had become the first player in English football to score a record 45 goals in a season in all competitions during City's 3-0 win over Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal.
On Saturday, that record tally increased to 47 goals.
Pep Guardiola sat out his star striker for the second half at Etihad Stadium on Saturday, giving him some rest before the second leg of their Champions League showdown with Bayern.
Guardiola's side, who are unbeaten in 14 matches in all competitions, trail leaders Arsenal by three points with a game in hand in their breakneck race for the Premier League title. Arsenal play West Ham on Sunday.
John Stones scored the opening goal for Manchester City.
Trailing 3-0, Kelechi Iheanacho pulled one back for Leicester in the 75th minute on otherwise nightmare afternoon for their interim manager Dean Smith, whose team are 19th with 25 points from 31 games in their battle to avoid relegation. They are two points adrift of the safety zone.
Brighton & Hove Albion ruined Chelsea boss Frank Lampard's return to Stamford Bridge with a 2-1 comeback win on Saturday as substitutes Danny Welbeck and Julio Enciso condemned the Blues to a third defeat in three games under their interim coach.
Lampard, who rested several first-choice starters before Tuesday's Champions League quarterfinal second leg against Real Madrid, at least saw the Blues score the first goal of his second spell in charge when Conor Gallagher's deflected shot beat Robert Sanchez in the Brighton goal in the 13th minute.
But the visitors, under coach Roberto De Zerbi, were the better side for long spells, forcing Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga into fine saves and hitting the bar before they drew level when Welbeck squeezed between two defenders to head in off the post in the 42nd minute, shortly after coming on.
The Seagulls got the second goal that they deserved when Paraguayan Enciso scored with an unstoppable shot from 25 yards in the 69th minute, bolstering Brighton's hopes of European football for the first time in their history next season.
“It's important we try to pick up as many points as we can,” Welbeck told the BBC. “With the confidence in the team we know we can go anywhere and cause problems.”
Brighton hammered Chelsea 4-1 in October, a result which set in train a slump in form for the London side that led to the dismissal this month of Graham Potter as coach, six months after the Blues had poached him — and four other back room staff — from the south-coast side to replace Thomas Tuchel.
Haaland continues to set records in win over Leicester City
Erling Haaland continued his jaw-dropping assault on the Premier League as he netted a first-half brace to equal Mo Salah's single-season goalscoring record in Manchester City's 3-1 victory over beleaguered Leicester City on Saturday.
Haaland increased his haul to 32 goals to tie Salah's mark for a 38-game season — and the 22-year-old Norwegian scoring machine has eight games still to play.
Only four days earlier, Haaland had become the first player in English football to score a record 45 goals in a season in all competitions during City's 3-0 win over Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal.
On Saturday, that record tally increased to 47 goals.
Pep Guardiola sat out his star striker for the second half at Etihad Stadium on Saturday, giving him some rest before the second leg of their Champions League showdown with Bayern.
Guardiola's side, who are unbeaten in 14 matches in all competitions, trail leaders Arsenal by three points with a game in hand in their breakneck race for the Premier League title. Arsenal play West Ham on Sunday.
John Stones scored the opening goal for Manchester City.
Trailing 3-0, Kelechi Iheanacho pulled one back for Leicester in the 75th minute on otherwise nightmare afternoon for their interim manager Dean Smith, whose team are 19th with 25 points from 31 games in their battle to avoid relegation. They are two points adrift of the safety zone.
Brighton & Hove Albion ruined Chelsea boss Frank Lampard's return to Stamford Bridge with a 2-1 comeback win on Saturday as substitutes Danny Welbeck and Julio Enciso condemned the Blues to a third defeat in three games under their interim coach.
Lampard, who rested several first-choice starters before Tuesday's Champions League quarterfinal second leg against Real Madrid, at least saw the Blues score the first goal of his second spell in charge when Conor Gallagher's deflected shot beat Robert Sanchez in the Brighton goal in the 13th minute.
But the visitors, under coach Roberto De Zerbi, were the better side for long spells, forcing Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga into fine saves and hitting the bar before they drew level when Welbeck squeezed between two defenders to head in off the post in the 42nd minute, shortly after coming on.
The Seagulls got the second goal that they deserved when Paraguayan Enciso scored with an unstoppable shot from 25 yards in the 69th minute, bolstering Brighton's hopes of European football for the first time in their history next season.
“It's important we try to pick up as many points as we can,” Welbeck told the BBC. “With the confidence in the team we know we can go anywhere and cause problems.”
Brighton hammered Chelsea 4-1 in October, a result which set in train a slump in form for the London side that led to the dismissal this month of Graham Potter as coach, six months after the Blues had poached him — and four other back room staff — from the south-coast side to replace Thomas Tuchel.
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