It’s taken 19 years but the Premier League has a new fastest goal record.
Shane Long now officially holds the record for the fastest goal in the history of the Premier League after opening the scoring against Watford with just seven seconds on the clock.
Watford actually kicked off Tuesday night’s Premier League clash at Vicarage Road but Long appeared to be the sharpest on the pitch as he sprinted to close down a lazy clearance, latched on to the blocked ball and confidently dinked it over Ben Foster to give Southampton the earliest of leads.
Sky Sports initially reckoned that Long had broken the deadlock after just six seconds but the statisticians at OptaJoe corrected it to record that the Irish striker’s goal went in at seven seconds, meaning that he still broke the pre-existing record with plenty of time to spare.
https://twitter.com/SkySportsPL/status/1120762846818729984
With Long’s opener against Watford, his third in four games, he bettered the previous record-holder, Ledley King, by some margin.
King found the net against Bradford in 2000 after just 9.82 seconds and held the record for the best part of two decades.
It’s difficult to imagine someone beating Long’s effort on Tuesday, meaning that the Tipperary man will likely be able to enjoy his place in the record books for some time if not forever.
Fastest goals in Premier League history:
⏱ Shane Long (7 seconds)
⏱ Ledley King (9.82 seconds)
⏱ Alan Shearer (10.52 seconds)
⏱ Christian Eriksen (10.54 seconds)That didn't take _______ pic.twitter.com/CF7hBAplDE
— Squawka (@Squawka) April 23, 2019
