bundesliga

Erling Haaland: MD13's Man of the Matchday and youngest player to hit 50 Bundesliga goals

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Erling Haaland smashed a pair of records on Saturday, becoming the youngest player ever to reach half a century of Bundesliga goals, as well as being the player who has needed the fewest games to reach the landmark.

Haaland was precisely 21 years, four months and six days of age when he returned from injury following a seven-game absence to put the seal on a 3-1 win at Wolfsburg.

In taking just 50 games to hit 50 goals, he bettered Timo Konietzka's previous best mark by nine matches.

Watch: The Story of Erling Haaland

"Erling made a good impression in training this week," head coach Marco Rose said afterwards of his star striker, who came off the bench in the 73rd minute against Wolfsburg. "He gives us a huge amount of energy when he's there. He's a player who can make the difference and you can't replace him in the long run."

Haaland proved exactly that just eight minutes after taking to the pitch at the Volkswagen Arena, lunging to meet Julian Brandt's cross and prod in his 10th Bundesliga goal of 2021/22, coming in just his seventh league appearance this term.

That means the Norwegian is plundering goals at the frightening rate of one for every 56 minutes in the Bundesliga this season. That pace is too much even for 14-goal top scorer Robert Lewandowski, who is averaging a goal every 78 minutes.

Watch: Can: "Haaland gives us more confidence"

“Everybody knows about Erl’s quality," teammate Emre Can told bundesliga.com after the final whistle. "He helps us as a team a lot. I think the team has more confidence when he’s on the pitch. I hope he’s fully fit soon and can help us.”

BVB will need their star man in peak condition this coming week when they host Bayern Munich in a top-of-the-table Klassiker on 4 December.