Pep Guardiola, the manager of Manchester City, has said that he did not anticipate that Erling Haaland would surpass the Premier League's all-time single-season scoring record.
In Wednesday's 3-0 victory over West Ham, Haaland scored his 35th goal of the year, breaking the previous mark of 42 games shared by Alan Shearer and Andy Cole.
The 22-year-old reached that total in just 31 appearances, and there are still five games left in the season. Guardiola acknowledged that Haaland's achievement is all the more remarkable given that his substitutes haven't always been successful.
Guardiola called it "incredible" to BBC Sport. He still has five games left and is only 22. How many times I substituted him after he scored a hat-trick in 60 minutes; perhaps he would have added more goals. But he might have sustained an injury. He is unique. To him, my congratulations.
We didn't anticipate him to break Cole and Shearer records, but he did score goals... He definitely wants to win the Premier League, I'm very confident of that. Despite having one game remaining, we are only ahead by one point. We must persevere and make a full recovery.
Later, Guardiola told Sky Sports, "It's unbelievable. We are extremely happy with how many crucial goals he has scored to win games.
"He is such a special and unusual person. The guard of honor was appropriate because it is a remarkable accomplishment. He might beat his own record on another day. He's scored a lot of goals!"
With one fewer game played than Arsenal, City has reclaimed first place in the Premier League. The two teams won't reach parity in terms of games played until City's second rescheduled match against Brighton later this month.
But City's next opponent is Saturday's trip to Leeds, the team from Haaland's hometown.
'Incredible' Erling Haaland receives praise from Pep Guardiola after setting a Premier League record
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