A stoppage-time goal by Gabriel Jesus did more than just clinch a significant win for Manchester City at Wolverhampton.

It capped a record-breaking round of scoring in the English Premier League, too.

A total of 44 were scored in a wild second round of games from Saturday to Monday, surpassing the record for a single round since the league was reduced to 20 teams in 1995.

At least seven goals were scored in three separate games, only the third time that has happened in the Premier League era (since 1992).

From Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s hat trick for Everton in the early kickoff on Saturday to Son Heung-min’s four-goal burst for Tottenham a day later to Man City’s commanding 3-1 win at Wolves on Monday, the goals flew in across the empty grounds of the world’s most-watched league at an average of 4.4 per game.

Maybe it was just one of those weekends.

Or maybe there are some logical reasons behind the high goal count.

No fans, less pressure

Without fans in the stadiums, there’s a different atmosphere for games that can sometimes resemble high-intensity training ground exercises. Players invariably are more relaxed without the crowd on their backs. Playmakers and forwards, especially, might feel more able to express themselves without being subjected to groans if an ambitious pass or speculative shot doesn’t come off. Players might feel under less pressure when they are through on goal. Penalty-takers, for example, might not feel under so much strain without crowd noise during their run-up. There have been 11 spot kicks converted already this season — though two have been saved, too. In an English League Cup match last week, there was a score of 11-10 in a penalty shootout. However, there were no fans in Premier League grounds after play restarted post-lockdown near the end of last season and the 2.72 goals per game in that period was exactly the same ratio as pre-lockdown. There were two fewer shots per game post-lockdown, too, so other reasons also might be pertinent.

Short offseason

Coaches typically use the preseason to get their players fit and nail down an approach or tactics ahead of the new campaign. Yet for 2020-21, there has barely been a preseason because of the late finish to last season. Teams have had very few friendlies to get sharp or organized, and trainings have been disjointed because of an international break and, in some cases, players testing positive for COVID-19. Look, for example, at Manchester United, whose players returned late to preseason training because of their involvement in the latter stages of the Europa League and had one hastily arranged friendly against Aston Villa. Paul Pogba contracted the coronavirus, while Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Mason Greenwood had to quarantine for various reasons. United lost at home to Crystal Palace 3-1 in its first game. “They were sharper than us in the challenges, tackles,” United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said. “We had a long season last season and we didn’t finish until Aug. 16, and we’ve not had enough preparation time to be sharper.” Because of the abnormally short offseason, players are unlikely to be as fit as they usually are for the start of a season. Tired bodies and tired minds can lead to more mistakes — and more goals.