It’s turning into a good week for Southampton and Republic of Ireland striker Shane Long as he created history on Tuesday evening by bagging the Premier League’s fastest ever goal.
The 32-year-old opened the scoring against Watford at Vicarage Road 7.69 seconds into the game to take the record from former Tottenham Hotspur defender Ledley King who had set a time of 9.82 seconds back in December 2000 in their match against Bradford City.
Although the goal only returned a point on the night as Watford equalised late on in the game to deny us the win, it was Long’s third goal in four games and the fourth of the season, taking his Premier League tally to 52.
3️⃣ goals in 4️⃣ games! 🙌#SaintsFC boss Ralph Hasenhüttl is delighted that @ShaneLong7 is reaping the rewards that his hard work merits: pic.twitter.com/Z5bAlTCmlB
— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) April 24, 2019
Having found the net back in our loss to Liverpool earlier in April, that goal itself was his milestone 50th in the top flight and he became only the fourth Irishman to do that, following in the footsteps of Niall Quinn, Robbie Keane and Damian Duff.
Having received the award for that achievement this week, Long told saintsfc that his favourite out of the set was his long ranger back in better days for us – the 6-1 hammering of Aston Villa back in May 2015.
“I think my favourite was for Southampton when we beat Aston Villa. It was against SG, from about 30, 35 yards and that’s the one that sticks out in my memory.”
Another accolade for @ShaneLong7! ????
The #SaintsFC striker has received his award for reaching 50 @premierleague goals! ???? pic.twitter.com/6G9uTkK4cH
— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) April 24, 2019
