You’d have thought that Shane Long might have had an inkling that he had broken the record for the fastest goal in Premier League history.
But in fact, the Southampton striker had no idea.
The sound of the referee’s whistle was likely still ringing around Vicarage Road when Long dinked the ball over Ben Foster after closing down a clearance moments after Watford’s kick-off and in the process, beat a long-standing Premier League record.
While the time of the goal was initially logged at six seconds, Opta quickly rectified that by confirming that the the ball crossed the line after seven seconds which still meant that Long secured the record with time to spare.
“It’s nice,” Long told Southampton’s official website. “I didn’t find out until after the game and I didn’t know what the record was before.”
Long’s goal, his third in four games, beat the record which was previously held by Ledley King for his goal against Bradford in 2000 but the Irish striker’s finish was not enough to claim all three points as Watford fought back to earn a draw with a late Andre Gray equaliser on Tuesday night.
“In every game you want to show your intent from the first kick and put them under pressure,” Long added.
⚽ After only 7️⃣ seconds Shane Long scores the quickest-ever goal in @premierleague history pic.twitter.com/DH6OWsLyRo
— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) April 23, 2019
“Mainly it’s just to force that long ball so they’re not quite set. Luckily I blocked it, it dropped nicely and I took a touch across Craig.
“I know Ben from West Brom and he’s an amazing keeper. He spreads himself so well and from watching clips I knew the dinked finish was my best option of scoring. Thankfully it came off.
“Records like that are nice to have I suppose, but it’s just disappointing that it wasn’t a goal to get three points because I thought we deserved it.
“Everybody put in such a shift all over the park. We had a few chances to get a second goal – I missed a couple, Redders (Nathan Redmond) hit the post twice, Bertie (Ryan Bertrand) hit the post as well. If one of those goes in, it gives us breathing space and we can see out the game.
“But Watford are a good side – they are where they are in the league for a reason, so fair play to them for coming back.”
