Who doesn’t love an early goal? Since the Premier League’s inception in 1992/93, there have been plenty of lightning-fast starts, including three goals scored in under 10 seconds, one of which came in at a record 07.69 seconds.
Without further ado, here’s a look at the top 10 quickest goals in Premier League history.
10. Kevin Nolan (Blackburn vs Bolton): 13.48 seconds
Kicking off the list is Kevin Nolan, who holds the record for the 10th fastest goal in Premier League history.
The Lancashire derby between Blackburn and Bolton in 2003 was a seven-goal thriller, ultimately won 4-3 by the Trotters, with Nolan scoring both the first and last goals of the game.
Nolan opened the scoring after just 13.48 seconds, smashing the ball home after Kevin Davies did well to keep it in play. But Bolton’s lead lasted barely two minutes before Vratislav Gresko equalised for Blackburn. Goals from Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole put the hosts 3-1 up, only for Youri Djorkaeff to pull one back before half-time.
In the second half, Stylianos Giannakopoulos levelled the match in the 73rd minute, before Nolan stepped up once again as he rifled in the winner from close range just five minutes later to cap a dramatic comeback.
Relive the drama here:
9. Chris Sutton (Everton vs Blackburn): 12.94 seconds
Premier League Golden Boot winner turned pundit Chris Sutton enjoyed a fruitful career in front of goal, which includes netting 15 times during the 1994/95 season to help Blackburn Rovers win the title.
The fastest of those came on April Fool’s Day at Goodison Park, where Sutton opened the scoring against Everton after a one-two with strike partner Alan Shearer. His goal, clocked at 12.94 seconds, set a new Premier League record at the time.
8. Dwight Yorke (Coventry vs Aston Villa): 12.16 seconds
Dwight Yorke takes eighth place with a lightning-fast header during Aston Villa’s 3-0 win over Midlands rivals Coventry in the early stages of the 1994/95 season, a result that lifted Villa to second in the table.
Yorke opened the scoring just 12.16 seconds in, netting his fifth goal of the season, before a late double from Savo Milosevic wrapped up the victory.
While it ranks eighth overall, 30 years later and Yorke’s goal still stands as the fastest headed goal in Premier League history.
7. Mark Viduka (Charlton vs Leeds): 11.90 seconds
Mark Viduka takes the seventh spot for his rapid opener against Charlton in March 2001.
The goal came just 11.90 seconds in, as Alan Smith flicked on a long ball from Ian Harte into Viduka’s path. The Australian striker took a clever touch before slotting a composed finish past Sasa Ilic to give Leeds an instant lead at The Valley.
6. Christian Eriksen (Tottenham vs Man United): 10.54 seconds
Christian Eriksen has scored a range of delightful goals during his career, the quickest of which was against his future employers Man United in early 2018.
Fans had barely taken to their seats when Harry Kane nodded on a header to Dele Alli whose blocked shot landed in the path of Eriksen, who coolly curled home past David de Gea.
5. Alan Shearer (Newcastle vs Manchester City): 10.52 seconds
We now venture into the top-5 and it’s only fitting that the Premier League’s all-time leading goalscorer makes the list.
The fastest of Alan Shearer’s 260 goals came in the 2002/03 season, when he gave Newcastle a 10.52-second lead at home to Manchester City.
Shearer charged down a poor first touch from stand-in goalkeeper Carlo Nash – in for the injured Peter Schmeichel – before calmly slotting the ball into the net.
Look away now Nash…
4. Abdoulaye Doucoure (Everton vs Leicester City): 10.18 seconds
Abdoulaye Doucoure is the most recent addition to this list after the Everton midfielder struck early in the 4-0 demolition of Leicester City in February 2025.
Keeper Jordan Pickford claimed the assist after his long kick was brilliantly taken down by Doucoure who then fired the ball into the back of the net to give the Toffees the lead after all of 10.18 seconds to score the fastest goal from a home team in Premier League history.
3. Ledley King (Bradford vs Tottenham): 09.82 seconds
Defender Ledley King was the proud owner of this honour for 18 years up until the yet-to-be-named-player came and snatched it off him.
The former Spurs skipper’s long-range deflected effort gave visiting Spurs a 09.82 second lead away to Bradford back in December 2009.
“At the time, I was embarrassed because it was a horrendous strike that took a huge deflection.” King later said of the goal.
Check it out for yourself at the start of this video:
2. Philip Billing (Arsenal vs Bournemouth): 09.11 seconds
The second speediest goal of all time came at the Emirates in 2023 when Bournemouth’s Philip Billing fired his side into the lead against Arsenal.
Billing stunned the hosts after all of 09.11 seconds when he slotted home a Dango Ouattara cross. The Cherries doubled their lead just before the hour mark, only for the Gunners to mount a comeback to snatch the spoils in the 97th minute.
1. Shane Long (Watford vs Southampton): 07.69 seconds
Southampton have their fair share of unwanted Premier League records, while last season they narrowly avoided being relegated with the lowest points total of all time.
However, the Saints do have a couple of prized Premier League records, which include scoring the quickest hat-trick and goal of all time. Sadio Mane holds the hat-trick accolade, while the fastest goal honour goes to Shane Long, who opened the scoring against Watford in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it 07.69 seconds back during the 2018/19 season.
The goal came from Watford’s kick-off with the ball played back to the centre back Craig Cathcart who tried to boot it forward, only for Long to react quickly and block it. The Irishman then raced on to the ball through on goal before chipping it past Ben Foster.
Bonus: Quickest goal ever
While Shane Long holds the record for the fastest goal in Premier League history, the quickest goal of all time belongs to Gavin Stokes.
Incredibly, Stokes found the net just 2.1 seconds into a match for Maryhill against Clydebank in 2017. He blasted the ball straight in from kick – will this ever be beaten?