Paul Scholes – 100 Premier League goals for Manchester United

He scores goals, galore,
He scores goals!
He scores goals, galore,
He scores goals!
He scores goals, galore,
He scores goals!
Paul Scholes – he scores goals…

Paul Scholes became the third Manchester United player this season to score their 100^th Premier League goal, the other two being Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney.

Scholes is probably my favourite United player of all time. I could watch him play all day; it has been a pure pleasure to watch a genius make football look so easy throughout his career.

You can have your Lampard’s, you can have Gerrard’s but for me, Scholes is the best English midfielder of the last twenty years. For some reason I get the impression (I could be wrong) Scholes is slightly under-rated in England, perhaps he doesn’t receive the deserved credit due to his quiet life style and the lack of press seeking attention outside of football.

Scholes is certainly not under-rated by his fellow peers; the following are comments from some of the greats of the game. Players such as Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry and Marcello Lippi have all publicly praised the qualities of Scholes.

Scholesy’s Stats: 100 goals in 436 appearances, which is exceptional considering Scholes has played the majority of his career as a midfielder and has never been a penalty taker. His first Premier League goal came against Ipswich in a 3-2 defeat in the 1994/95 season. His best season in terms of league goals was in the 2002/03 where Scholes scored 14 goals in 33 appearances.

Here is the complete breakdown of the 100 Premier League goals scored by Paul Scholes:

1994/95 Season (5 goals)

1. 24 September 1994       Ipswich Town                    A     2 – 3
2. 10 December 1994        Queens Park Rangers     A     3 – 2
3. 10 December 1994        Queens Park Rangers     A     3 – 2
4. 3 January 1995              Coventry City                H     2 – 0
5. 1 May 1995                   Coventry City                 A     3 – 2

1995/1996 Season (10 goals)

6. 23 August 1995            West Ham United     H     2 – 1
7. 16 September 1995     Bolton Wanderers     H     3 – 0
8. 16 September 1995     Bolton Wanderers     H     3 – 0
9. 14 October 1995          Manchester City     H     1 – 0
10. 21 October 1995        Chelsea         A     4 – 1
11. 21 October 1995         Chelsea         A     4 – 1
12. 18 November 1995     Southampton         H     4 – 1
13. 25 February 1996     Bolton Wanderers     A     6 – 0
14. 25 February 1996     Bolton Wanderers     A     6 – 0
15. 28 April 1996              Nottingham Forest     H     5 – 0

1996/1997 Season (3 goals)

16. 26 October 1996     Southampton         A     3 – 6
17. 18 December 1996     Sheffield Wednesday     A     1 – 1
18. 12 April 1997     Blackburn Rovers     A     3 – 2

1997/1998 Season (8 goals)

19. 13 September 1997     West Ham United     H     2 – 1
20. 24 September 1997     Chelsea         H     2 – 2
21. 25 October 1997     Barnsley         H     7 – 0
22. 22 November 1997     Wimbledon         A     5 – 2
23. 11 March 1998     West Ham United     A     1 – 1
24. 28 March 1998     Wimbledon         H     2 – 0
25. 6 April 1998     Blackburn Rovers     A     3 – 1
26. 27 April 1998     Crystal Palace         A     3 – 0

1998/1999 Season (6 goals)

27. 24 September 1998     Liverpool         H     2 – 0
28. 14 November 1998     Blackburn Rovers     H     3 – 2
29. 14 November 1998     Blackburn Rovers     H     3 – 2
30. 5 December 1998     Aston Villa         A     1 – 1
31. 19 December 1998     Middlesbrough         H     2 – 3
32. 17 April 1999     Sheffield Wednesday     H     3 – 0

1999/2000 Season (9 goals)

33. 11 August 1999     Sheffield Wednesday     H     4 – 0
34. 25 August 1999     Coventry City         A     2 – 1
35. 30 October 1999     Aston Villa         H     3 – 0
36. 5 February 2000     Coventry City         H     3 – 2
37. 25 March 2000     Bradford City         A     4 – 0
38. 10 April 2000     Middlesbrough         A     4 – 3
39. 1 April 2000     West Ham United     H     7 – 1
40. 1 April 2000     West Ham United     H     7 – 1
41. 1 April 2000     West Ham United     H     7 – 1

2000/2001 Season (6 goals)

42. 9 September 2000     Sunderland         H     3 – 0
43. 9 September 2000     Sunderland         H     3 – 0
44. 23 September 2000     Chelsea         H     3 – 3
45. 2 December 2000     Tottenham Hotspur     H     2 – 0
46. 14 April 2001     Coventry City         H     4 – 2
47. 19 May 2001     Tottenham Hotspur     A     1 – 3

2001/2002 Season (8 goals)

48. 25 November 2001     Arsenal         A     1 – 3
49. 12 December 2001     Derby County         H     5 – 0
50. 2 January 2002     Newcastle United     H     3 – 1
51. 2 January 2002     Newcastle United     H     3 – 1
52. 3 March 2002     Derby County         A     2 – 2
53. 16 March 2002     West Ham United     A     5 – 3
54. 30 March 2002     Leeds United         A     4 – 3
55. 20 April 2002     Chelsea         A     3 – 0

2002/2003 Season (14 goals)

56. 28 September 2002     Charlton Athletic     A     3 – 1
57. 7 October 2002     Everton         H     3 – 0
58. 7 October 2002     Everton         H     3 – 0
59. 23 November 2002     Newcastle United     H     5 – 3
60. 7 December 2002     Arsenal         H     2 – 0
61. 1 January 2003     Sunderland         H     2 – 1
62. 11 January 2003     West Bromwich Albion     A     3 – 1
63. 18 January 2003     Chelsea         H     2 – 1
64. 12 April 2003     Newcastle United     A     6 – 2
65. 12 April 2003     Newcastle United     A     6 – 2
66. 12 April 2003     Newcastle United     A     6 – 2
67. 19 April 2003     Blackburn Rovers     H     3 – 1
68. 19 April 2003     Blackburn Rovers     H     3 – 1
69. 26 April 2003     Tottenham Hotspur     A     2 – 0

2003/2004 Season (9 goals)

70. 16 August 2003     Bolton Wanderers     H     4 – 0
71. 23 August 2003     Newcastle United     A     2 – 1
72. 4 October 2003     Birmingham City     H     3 – 0
73. 13 December 2003     Manchester City     H     3 – 1
74. 13 December 2003     Manchester City     H     3 – 1
75. 7 January 2004     Bolton Wanderers     A     2 – 1
76. 31 January 2004     Southampton         H     3 – 2
77. 21 February 2004     Leeds United         H     1 – 1
78. 14 March 2004     Manchester City     A     1 – 4

2004/2005 Season (9 goals)

79. 20 November 2004     Charlton Athletic     H     2 – 0
80. 27 November 2004     West Bromwich Albion     A     3 – 0
81. 27 November 2004     West Bromwich Albion     A     3 – 0
82. 4 December 2004     Southampton         H     3 – 0
83. 18 December 2004     Crystal Palace         H     5 – 2
84. 18 December 2004     Crystal Palace         H     5 – 2
85. 26 December 2004     Bolton Wanderers     H     2 – 0
86. 22 January 2005     Aston Villa         H     3 – 1
87. 1 May 2005         Charlton Athletic     A     4 – 0

2005/2006 Season (2 goals)

88. 3 December 2005     Portsmouth         H     3 – 0
89. 26 December 2005     West Bromwich Albion     H     3 – 0

2006/2007 Season (6 goals)

90. 22 October 2006     Liverpool         H     2 – 0
91. 23 December 2006     Aston Villa         A     3 – 0
92. 1 January 2007     Newcastle United     A     2 – 2
93. 1 January 2007     Newcastle United     A     2 – 2
94. 4 February 2007     Tottenham Hotspur     A     4 – 0
95. 31 March 2007     Blackburn Rovers     H     4 – 1

2007/2008 Season

96. 15 August 2007     Portsmouth         A     1 – 1

2008/2009 Season (2 goals)

97. 18 February 2009     Fulham             H     3 – 0
98. 11 April 2009     Sunderland         A     2 – 1

2009/2010 (2 goals)

99. 5 December 2009     West Ham United     A     4 – 0
100. 6 March 2010     Wolverhampton Wanderers    A     1 – 0