Phillip Billing stunned Premier League leaders Arsenal when he scored after 9.11 seconds for Bournemouth at Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

It ranked as the second-fastest goal at the start of a game in Premier League history, beaten only by Shane Long's effort after 7.69 seconds for Southampton against Watford in April 2019.

Here, we take a closer look at the five fastest goals ever scored in the Premier League, as recorded by Opta.

Shane Long: Watford v Southampton, April 2019 – 7.69 seconds

There appeared to be little danger when Craig Cathcart looked to play a long ball downfield from Roberto Pereyra's kick-off, but Long had other ideas. His block fell fortuitously into his path, but there was nothing lucky about the glorious flick over the onrushing Ben Foster.

What a moment! #SaintsFC 's @ShaneLong7 celebrates the fastest goal in #PL history!   pic.twitter.com/M4fpU1sIcj

— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) April 23, 2019

Phillip Billing, Arsenal v Bournemouth, March 2023, 9.11 seconds

Sleepy Arsenal let Bournemouth get straight on the attack, and Dango Ouattara's cross from the right took a slight touch off Gabriel Magalhaes and ran into the path of Billing, who fired past Aaron Ramsdale from close range.

Ledley King: Bradford City v Tottenham, December 2000 – 9.82 seconds

It might have held the title of quickest goal for nearly 19 years, but it certainly was not the prettiest. King powered forward from midfield and dispatched a bobbling effort past Matt Clarke, who might feel he should have done better.

Alan Shearer: Newcastle United v Manchester City, January 2003 – 10.52 seconds

The Premier League's all-time top goalscorer scarcely needed a helping hand to find the back of the net, but he got one from Carlo Nash. The Magpies hero closed down the City goalkeeper's attempted clearance and tapped into an empty net for possibly the easiest finish of his decorated career.

Christian Eriksen: Tottenham v Manchester United, January 2018 – 10.54 seconds

The Denmark international took full advantage of some generous United defending to set Spurs on their way to a 2-0 win. Son Heung-min's attempted shot was blocked into the path of Eriksen, who coolly slotted past a shell-shocked David de Gea, a future United team-mate.

Liverpool's need for defensive reinforcements was always likely to dominate the headlines on transfer deadline day and so it proved as the Premier League champions made two late signings.

Centre-back Ben Davies arrived from Preston North End, while Liverpool made a further addition to the heart of their backline with the loan signing of Ozan Kabak from Bundesliga strugglers Schalke until the end of the season.

Those signings came on a day that saw Joel Matip ruled out for the rest of the season with an ankle ligament injury. Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez are long-term absentees and Liverpool were forced to play Jordan Henderson and Nathaniel Phillips at centre-back in Sunday's win at West Ham.

Heading for the Anfield exit door is Takumi Minamino, the forward moving to Southampton on a six-month loan deal having only joined Liverpool last January.

It came after Southampton loaned veteran Shane Long to promotion-chasing Championship side Bournemouth.

Bournemouth also sanctioned the departure of Joshua King to Everton for a nominal fee until the end of the season.

There were outgoings at Arsenal as well, with Shkodran Mustafi signing for Schalke on a short-term deal and Joe Willock going on loan to Newcastle United, who let DeAndre Yedlin leave for Galatasaray.

Arsenal also sent Ainsley Maitland-Niles to West Brom on loan.

Turkish giants Galatasaray acquired Gedson Fernandes on a temporary deal from Benfica following an unsuccessful stint at Tottenham.

In Serie A, Parma landed Bayern Munich's teenage forward Joshua Zirkzee in a loan deal that contains the option to sign the 19-year-old permanently.

Atalanta are firmly in contention for a top-four finish in Serie A and bolstered their ranks for that push with the capture of Ukraine midfielder Viktor Kovalenko from Shakhtar Donetsk.

Roma can afford to have hopes of a title challenge and brought in teenage full-back Bryan Reynolds from MLS outfit Dallas on an initial loan deal, with an obligation to buy, to help them.

Frozen out at Juventus, midfielder Sami Khedira is back in the Bundesliga following a switch to Hertha Berlin, but one of European football's most exciting talents is heading to Italy after Udinese signed Jayden Braaf on loan from Manchester City with an option to buy.

Elsewhere, Everton defender Jonjoe Kenny joined Celtic on loan for the rest of the season, Brighton and Hove Albion signed highly rated midfielder Moises Caicedo from Independiente del Valle, West Brom loaned Okay Yokuslu from Celta Vigo and defender Teden Mengi moved from Manchester United to Wayne Rooney's Derby County on a temporary basis.

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.