Erling Haaland becomes Premier League's single-season scoring king

Erling Haaland continues to live up to his reputation as a scoring machine and, on Wednesday, he broke the Premier League's single-season goals record.

The Manchester City striker notched his 35th goal of the season in a match against West Ham United at Etihad Stadium. It was the second score in the home team's 3-0 victory.

The goal came in the 70th minute after Haaland, 22, ran with a through-ball from Jack Grealish and kicked the ball over goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski into the net. The Norwegian star slid to his knees in celebration and sat down in a zen pose as his teammates rallied around him.

His father, former Manchester City player Alfie Haaland, was in attendance.

"A bit unreal, to be honest," Erling said after the game. "I wasn't thinking of this kind of record when I came here and yeah, to break it means I've done something special and I'm really proud of this moment and of this game."

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Erling Haaland passes Alan Shearer, Andrew Cole

Haaland stands alone at the top of the standings as he passed Andrew Cole and Alan Shearer, who each had 34 goals when the Premier League had 42 matches in a season. Mohamed Salah's mark of 32 goals during Liverpool's 2017-2018 campaign sits as the third-overall highest and second most in a 38-game season.

Haaland broke the Premier League scoring record in 31 appearances. He sat out two games and has five matches left to add to his mark. He has scored in 10 of his past 11 games.

In a match against RB Leipzig in March, he scored a UEFA Champions League record five goals. With the performance, he broke the record for most goals in a season in Manchester City history.

For the Norwegian national team, he has scored 21 goals in 23 caps.

Haaland was a nominee for the 2022 men's Ballon d'Or, soccer's highest honor, and is expected to be a top candidate for this year's award.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Erling Haaland breaks Premier League single-season goals record