What is the fastest Premier League goal of all time?

Dan Murphy
Shane Long celebrates for Southampton.

There’s nothing better than flying out of the traps, is there? Taking your opponent by surprise and hitting them with the old one-two before they’ve even had a chance to touch the ball.

Football is one of the lowest scoring sports on the planet, which is what makes it so dramatic. Goals are hard to come by. A special rarity. Which makes them all the more crucial when they occur and even better to celebrate.

Usually it takes at least a couple of minutes for a game to shake-out before the ball finds the back of the net but sometimes goals can be scored when just seconds are on the clock.

What is the fastest Premier League goal ever?

The accolade for scoring the fastest Premier League goal hasn’t changed hands too often, with Tottenham Hotspur hero Ledley King holding the honour for nearly twenty years with his goal against Bradford City after just 9.82 seconds.

However, that changed in the 2018/19 season, Southampton’s Shane Long blew that record out of the water after a mere 7.69 seconds against Watford.

The Irish striker closed down defender Craig Cathcart, who smashed his attempted clearance against him. Long seized on the loose ball and then dinked the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper to make history.

Top 15 fastest Premier League goals

  • 1 – Shane Long – Watford vs Southampton – 07.69
  • 2 – Philip Billing – Arsenal vs Bournemouth – 09.11
  • 3 – Ledley King – Bradford City vs Tottenham – 09.82
  • 4 – Alan Shearer – Newcastle United vs Manchester City – 10.52
  • 5 – Christian Eriksen – Tottenham vs Manchester United – 10.54
  • 6 – Mark Viduka – Charlton vs Leeds United – 11.90
  • 7 – Dwight Yorke – Coventry City vs Aston Villa – 12.16
  • 8 – Chris Sutton – Everton vs Blackburn – 12.94
  • 9 – Kevin Nolan – Blackburn vs Bolton – 13.48
  • 10 – James Beattie – Chelsea vs Southampton – 13.52
  • 11 – Asmir Begovic – Stoke vs Southamton – 13.64
  • 12 – Jay Rodriguez – Chelsea vs Southampton – 13.68
  • 13 – Jesus Navas – Manchester City vs Tottenham – 13.76
  • 14 – Naby Keita – Liverpool vs Huddersfield – 15.20
  • 15 – Jay Rodriguez – Burnley vs Sheffield United – 15.80

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About The Author

Dan Murphy is a freelance senior sports writer at Dexerto. After graduating from the University of Sheffield, Dan spent five years at the Manchester Evening News covering the city's two juggernaut clubs. He also has bylines for FourFourTwo, The Blizzard, Liverpool Echo, Newcastle Chronicle and countless more. As well as football, Dan is a passionate pro wrestling fans and also loves darts, cricket and combat sports. You can email him here: dan.murphy@dexerto.com