The 8 quickest counter-attack goals of Premier League season so far

“Speed is always important,” Thierry Henry, one of the quickest players to ever grace the Premier League, once mused. “If you combine it with power, precision and technique it’s unstoppable.”

In an era when managers spend an increasing amount of time and energy setting their teams up to dismantle the opposition via intricate schemes of passes, a direct surge through the middle of a muddled side offers a wonderfully refreshing alternative.

Pep Guardiola once hailed the Bundesliga as the home of the world’s most dangerous counter-attacking teams, but a glut of Premier League teams have produced sequences of concussive speed so far this season.

Time: 16.13 seconds
Opponent: Everton (17 August)

“Horrible”, was the word Sean Dyche chose to describe the nut-and-bolt dismantling which his Everton side suffered on the opening weekend of the Premier League season.

Brighton romped to a 3-0 win at Goodison Park, propelled to victory by Kaoru Mitoma’s blistering opener. The Japan international finished the move just 16 seconds after winning the ball inside his team’s penalty box.

Time: 13.84 seconds
Opponent: West Ham (21 September)

The enthusiasm of West Ham’s recovery runs had begun to fade as early as the fourth minute of Chelsea’s trip to the London Stadium. Julen Lopetegui’s lacklustre hosts were already 2-0 down and mentally shattered by the time Nicolas Jackson began his forward surge at the start of the second half.

Uncharacteristically turning down the chance to complete his hat-trick, Jackson slid the ball into Cole Palmer’s stride to put a final nail in West Ham’s coffin.

Time: 13.62 seconds
Opponent: Crystal Palace (24 August)

A slick finish to round off West Ham‘s 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace was not the most admirable moment of Jarrod Bowen’s afternoon at Selhurst Park.

While West Ham’s players celebrated Tomas Soucek’s opener, an advertising hoarding crumpled on top of a ball boy sitting along the side of the pitch. Bowen swiftly whisked the child out of harm’s way and gave him his match shirt at the end of the game.

Time: 12.94 seconds
Opponent: Brighton (2 November)

Arne Slot’s record-toppling tenure at Liverpool has been defined by a more controlled and composed style. The Reds have dialled down the heavy metal tempo of Jurgen Klopp’s iconic reign, but the old guard still know when to break into a blistering solo.

Mohamed Salah fired Liverpool in front against Brighton at the end of a 13-second burst upfield, chopping onto his left foot and bending the ball into the top corner with a move which Slot dubbed the “Mo Salah special”. The Dutch coach rightly added: “It’s not the first and not the last time he will score from that position.”

Time: 12.15 seconds
Opponent: Newcastle (27 October)

Cole Palmer will not be credited with the assist for Nicolas Jackson’s opener against Newcastle United, but he deserves almost all the credit for the sweeping move upfield. Slicing between the visiting set of black and white stripes with one swing of his left boot, Palmer almost forced Pedro Neto into a square pass for Chelsea’s leading striker.

Palmer would go on to score the winning goal but it was his outrageous pass which Enzo Maresca described as “the reason why people pay” to go to Stamford Bridge. “They want to see that kind of player,” the Chelsea boss gushed.

Time: 11.11 seconds
Opponent: West Ham (19 October)

Son Heung-min hastily scrawled the exclamation point to a 4-1 victory, rattling in the third goal of a eight-minute burst to sink a West Ham side all to willing to wilt.

Tottenham’s crisp counter-attack to complete the second-half rout was watched on by three West Ham substitutes who had also been patiently waiting on touchline while Spurs made it 3-1 five minutes earlier.

Time: 10.6 seconds
Opponent: Brentford (21 September)

Brentford have been the division’s quickest starters this season. Bryan Mbeumo’s opener against Tottenham in this September clash was the second of three consecutive Premier League matches in which the Bees scored in the first minute.

However, Spurs recovered to lead 2-1 going into the interval and sealed all three points with James Maddison’s swift counter-attack in the 85th minute.

Time: 7.75 seconds
Opponent: Brentford (25 August)

Arne Slot’s first home match as Liverpool manager delivered a breath-taking counter-attack which Jurgen Klopp would have been proud of.

Mohamed Salah was first to the second ball from a Brentford corner, forcing possession into the path of Diogo Jota who showed just enough patience before sliding Luis Diaz into the box. The Colombian forward was an early beneficiary of Slot’s detailed training sessions and has lauded the Dutch coach as “spectacular”. The same could be said of his goal.

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