Nathan Ake has applauded Erling Haaland's work ethic, desire and humble nature after the striker broke the record for the most goals scored in a single Premier League season in the 3-0 win over West Ham United.

Our number nine now has 35 goals in the top-flight this season, surpassing the previous record of 34 held by Alan Shearer and Andrew Cole.

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Ake headed us ahead shortly after the interval before Haaland chipped in the landmark goal, with Phil Foden‘s deflected strike making it three shortly before full-time.

Haaland now has 51 goals across all competitions this season and Ake reserved plenty of praise for the Norwegian after our victory over the Hammers.

“It’s crazy. The way he came in, that’s what he does everyday,” he said.

“He’s always there. He deserves everything he gets. He works so hard. He’s a top player, I don’t have to tell you that. How humble he stays, he’s a great addition, hopefully he can score even more.

“It was very tough. They defended really well. It was difficult. We had to be patient, then we got the goal and got more space to play.

“Every game will be tough like this. Everyone is fighting for something. We knew it would be tough.

“We had to dig in and keep playing our game. It’s all about the three points at the moment. We stayed strong and won.”

Ake, who returned to the starting lineup after a short injury layoff, claimed his first league goal of the season, heading in expertly from a Riyad Mahrez cross.

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The defender was delighted to be back in action and was happy to be in a position to help the team under the floodlights at the Etihad Stadium.

“It was a perfect ball from Riyad and luckily I was in the right place to head in. This one was good to head in,” he said.

“Luckily, it [injury] wasn’t too bad. I trained a couple of times. Luckily everything went well and I stayed fit. Hopefully I can kick on again.”

The victory propels us back into top spot in the table at the expense of Arsenal, with Pep Guardiola‘s side one point ahead and still having one game in hand over the Gunners.

Ake is keen for City to remain focused and keep pushing ahead of the final stretch of the campaign.

“We have to keep on pushing. It’s not finished yet.

“Saturday with Leeds will be tough again. We have to recover and go again.”