Erling Haaland's dad Alfie has jokingly trolled his son after the striker came off the bench to score a late winner for Manchester City against Fulham.
The Norwegian was only fit enough to be named among the substitutes as he recovers from an injury suffered against Borussia Dortmund. But with 10-man City struggling to break down the Cottagers, Haaland was brought on to replace Julian Alvarez up front.
He duly delivered for Pep Guardiola's title-challenging side, squeezing home a penalty in injury-time to claim the three points. That goal means that he continues his stunning start to his Premier League career, with the 21-year-old having scored 18 times in just 12 games.
That astonishing return means that he has already matched the goals record his father managed in the English top-flight. The senior Haaland played 181 games during spells at City, Leeds United and Nottingham Forest.
Unsurprisingly for a defensive midfielder, his goals return was low, scoring 18 times during his seven years playing in the Premier League. With his goal against Fulham, his son has now matched that record and the 49-year-old could not resist making a joke at his expense.
ESPN's Twitter account posted a photoshopped picture of the duo of both of them playing for City with the caption " Erling Haaland has as many Premier League goals as his dad after just 12 games". Alfie quote-tweeted that post and in reply wrote "About time" with a winking face and blue heart emoji.
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Haaland admitted after the win that stepping up to take the penalty left him full of nerves. The Norwegian was able to score despite that feeling and made his delight at securing all three points for his side clear.
"I was nervous. It was one of the most nervous moments of my life, but fantastic. A penalty in the last minute, of course I would be nervous. But it was an amazing feeling. I don't care how it went it, it is about it going in," he said.
"I love it. I have been injured for a week and it is really important to win. For me it was about coming in with some energy and try and get a goal because these three points are really important.
"It was about trying to get it and that is what we did. To win this game 10 against 11, it's amazing. I'm really proud of every single guy out there today that made it possible to get these three points.
"These points will be really important, so yeah, amazing. We have really good vibes, a good atmosphere. We enjoy together and we work hard together. I was one week out and finally I am back. It's a good feeling."
Haaland can pull ahead of his father in the Premier League's scoring charts next Saturday. City will host Brentford at the Etihad Stadium with the striker potentially in line to start following his substitute appearance against Fulham.
