The Premier League reached a major milestone this week.
The top division’s 35,000th goal was scored during Manchester City’s draw with Brighton on Wednesday.
The scorer: Erling Haaland.
While the formidable Norwegian often appears a certainty to score, the league’s historical milestone goals have been netted by both prolific forwards and some unexpected players.
Goal 1: Brian Deane (Sheffield United) v Manchester United, August 15, 1992
Deane scored with a close-range header after just five minutes as the Blades launched their Premier League campaign with a 2-1 win over the eventual champions.
Goal 100: Eric Cantona (Leeds) v Tottenham, August 25, 1992
Cantona, soon to make the shock switch across the Pennines to Manchester United, completed the Premier League century as he rounded off his hat-trick with a volley in a 5-0 Leeds rout.
Goal 1,000: Mike Newell (Blackburn) v Nottingham Forest, April 7, 1993
Newell grabbed Rovers’ third from Stuart Ripley’s cross in a 3-1 win at the City Ground as 1,000 goals came up in the first Premier League season.
Goal 2,000: Mick Quinn (Coventry) v Manchester City, February 19, 1994
Quinn headed the Sky Blues’ second from David Rennie’s cross in their 4-0 win.
Goal 5,000: Andy Townsend (Aston Villa) v Southampton, December 7, 1996
Townsend claimed the only goal as Villa won 1-0 at the Dell. The goal was timed in the same minute as Chris Sutton’s – for Blackburn against Leicester – and at the time they were jointly recorded as the 4,999th and 5,000th Premier League goals, but Townsend’s strike is now recognised by the league.
Goal 10,000: Les Ferdinand (Tottenham) v Fulham, December 15, 2001
Ferdinand opened the scoring for Spurs from a Darren Anderton cross.
Goal 15,000: Moritz Volz (Fulham) v Chelsea, December 30, 2006
The German defender scored only his second Premier League goal with a deflected right-footed shot from just outside the six-yard box to put the Cottagers 1-0 up in a game that finished 2-2.
Goal 20,000: Marc Albrighton (Aston Villa) v Arsenal, December 21, 2011
The winger, a future title winner with Leicester, seized on Thomas Vermaelen’s poor defensive header to cancel out Robin van Persie’s penalty, only for Yossi Benayoun to score a late Arsenal winner.
Goal 25,000: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Manchester United) v Swansea, November 6, 2016
The Swede added to Paul Pogba’s opener with the 25,000th Premier League goal – fired home from the edge of the box – and soon added another as United won 3-1.
Goal 30,000: Chris Wood (Burnley) v Leeds, August 29, 2021
The New Zealander nudged the Clarets ahead against his former club from Matt Lowton’s cross but Patrick Bamford earned Leeds a point.
Goal 35,000: Erling Haaland (Man City) v Brighton, January 7, 2026
Haaland scored the first penalty on this list, his 150th City goal in all competitions, to give his side the lead but Kaoru Mitoma earned Brighton a point. The four-season gap since Wood’s goal marks a reduction on the five-year pattern for each previous multiple of 5,000 since the Premier League’s establishment.
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