Erling Haaland one goal away from breaking incredible Cristiano Ronaldo record

Manchester City's star forward Erling Haaland is on the verge of breaking Cristiano Ronaldo's goalscoring record. He needs one goal in the next match to better the Portuguese's record of the fastest to 100 goals for any team, while he has two games to level it.

Haaland has started the 2024-25 season in red-hot form for his club. In just four matches, he has scored nine goals, including two hat-tricks. He got the matchball by bagging three goals each against West Ham United and Ipswich Town.

He was on the verge of a third consecutive hat-trick, but couldn't find his third goal in Manchester City's 2-1 win against Brentford. If he had scored that, he would have beaten the former Manchester United superstar's record.

Cristiano Ronaldo had created the record for the fastest to 100 goals when he reached the milestone in his first 105 matches for Real Madrid after joining the club in 2009.

Currently, Erling Haaland has 99 goals for Manchester City, a feat he has achieved in 103 matches. That gives him two matches to level Cristiano's sensational goalscoring feat and one to beat the record.

The task for the Norwegian won't be easy as Manchester City's next match is in the UEFA Champions League against Thiago Motta's Inter Milan on Wednesday, September 18, at the Etihad Stadium. In case he fails to score there, the Cityzens host fellow title challengers Arsenal on Sunday, September 22.

Erling Haaland can match Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi for goals - Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has waxed lyrical about his star striker. Earlier this season when the 24-year-old scored his first hat-trick of the campaign, the Spaniard made a startling claim.

Guardiola compared his forward's goalscoring prowess to greats such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Speaking in the post-match conference after the win against Ipswich, the former Barcelona manager said:

"The numbers with Erling [Haaland] are unbelievable. I think he can sit at the table, in terms of scoring goals, with Cristiano [Ronaldo] and Messi, that's for sure."

Erling Haaland's strong start to the season has been attributed to the rest he was afforded over the summer. While other players were representing their countries at either the Euros or Copa America, the City forward had the summer off to prepare for the season. It looks like the rest over the summer has worked wonders for the Norway international.