Erling Haaland scored a very rare goal vs Brighton, it's only the second time he's done it for City

Ahead of Manchester City's home clash against Brighton, the often-reliable Erling Haaland was on his joint-longest Premier League scoring drought – but it took him just 19 minutes to break that 'dry spell' on Saturday.

The 23-year-old forward, who scored 36 Premier League goals in his debut campaign for Pep Guardiola's men, has somewhat struggled to find the net of late [well, by his ridiculously high standards].

But the Norwegian doubled City's lead in their game against Brighton with a great strike after Julian Alvarez opened the scoring.

In fact, it was a rare goal from Haaland, who drilled it into the bottom right corner from outside the box.

Only two of Haaland's 61 goals for the Citizens have come from outside the area, with his strike against Roberto De Zerbi's side joining the one against Wolves on September 17th last year.

“Erling Haaland only scores against small teams”

“Erling Haaland only scores tap-ins”

He’s back! 🔵

pic.twitter.com/ayLRebzrq0

— Sam (@Sam_Daniels6) October 21, 2023

Erling Haaland just scored a outside the box goal😭#MCIBHA #alvarez pic.twitter.com/KTsQhh68Dp

— Adithya Reddy (@AdithyaReddy_20) October 21, 2023

Haaland's effort at the Etihad on Saturday took his Premier League tally to 45 goals, which means he has already overtaken Ilkay Gundogan’s record in England's top flight.

And the former Borussia Dortmund striker has still never gone three consecutive Premier League games without scoring – a quite remarkable record all things considered.

Pep Guardiola believes Haaland should win the Ballon d'Or after his record-breaking season at City.

"I always said that the Ballon d'Or had to be of two sections - one for Messi and one for the others," he said.

"Haaland should win. We won the treble because he scored 52 goals but, of course, Messi - his worst season is the best of most players. Both deserve it.

"Egotistically, I would say I want Erling because he helped us to achieve what we achieved, I would love it, but I won't tell you it's unfair if Leo wins."

Guardiola added: "It's nice that many players for Man City will be there for the first time in many years and challenging for these trophies. That makes us so proud for our organisation."

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