5 FASTEST GOALS IN PREMIER LEAGUE HISTORY

The Premier League is known to be the most unpredictable among all the top European leagues and the 2018/19 season has lived up to its billing. Liverpool and Manchester City are engaged in a fight to the finish for top spot while four teams are battling for third and fourth positions.

While the league is associated with speed and goals and teams putting it all on the line, the nature of the game in England always ensures there’s a lot of events that happen that no team can plan for.

There have been late goals deep in injury time that always stand out in fans’ memories and there have also been goals that rocked the opposition early in the game.

Here, we look at the five fastest goals in Premier League history:

5. Mark Viduka (11.90 seconds) (Against Charlton – 2000/01)

Mark Viduka was a bruising striker with a soft touch who had a knack for scoring some great goals. The big Australian was technically very good and it showed during his time with Leeds, scoring 72 goals in four seasons at Elland Road in all competitions.

His goalscoring prowess came to the fore in a game against Charlton Athletic in the 2000/01 Premier League season as he scored with just over 11 seconds on the clock after being set up by Alan Smith’s header from Ian Harte’s deep pass.

4. Christian Eriksen (10.54 seconds) (Against Man United – 2017/18)

Tottenham Hotspur have been known to press their opponents into mistakes and create goalscoring situations out of almost nothing regularly under Mauricio Pochettino.

They did the same against Manchester United in the 2017/18 season as Christian Eriksen scored from the first possession of the game.

A long ball was swept forward to Harry Kane straight from kick-off. The Englishman headed it on to Dele Alli, whose shot was blocked by Chris Smalling. Eriksen latched onto the rebound and dispatched it past a helpless David de Gea in goal.

3. Alan Shearer (10.52 seconds) (Against Man City – 2002/03)

The legendary English striker got his home team Newcastle United off to a fast start against Manchester City back in the 2002/03 season. Alan Shearer did very well to close down City goalkeeper Carlo Nash straight from kick-off, and blocked Nash’s attempted clearance.

The Premier League’s all-time leading goalscorer then tapped the ball home into an empty net to give his side the lead just 10.52 seconds into the match.

2. Ledley King (09.82 seconds) (Against Bradford City – 2000/01)

Previously the unlikely holder of the record for the Premier League’s fastest goal scored, Ledley King achieved the feat in the 2000/01 season when he was playing as a midfielder.

King got the ball rolling from kick-off and carried on into the Bradford half. An errant header saw the ball fall to his feet and the centre-back controlled the ball and let fly towards goal.

What was a pretty ordinary effort turned into a goal as Bradford’s goalkeeper Matt Clarke couldn’t keep up with the bobbling shot and Spurs took the lead within 10 seconds.

1. Shane Long (07.69 seconds) (Against Watford – 2018/19)

Shane Long broke Ledley King’s 19-year-old record for the fastest goal in Premier League history with his strike for Southampton against Watford in the 2018/19 season.

The Irishman charged to close down the Hornets’ defence straight from kick-off. Craig Cathcart, who was looking to play a long ball in the direction of Roberto Pereyra, saw his clearance charged down emphatically by Long.

The ball then fell conveniently in the path of the striker, who took it in his stride before calmly chipping the ball into the goal over an onrushing Ben Foster.

Source:https://igeeksoccer.com/5-fastest-goals-in-premier-league-history/