Cole scored 34 goals in 40 matches during Newcastle's first Premier League season as they finished third, and qualified for the UEFA Cup for the first time since the 1970s. His first top division goal was in a 1–1 draw against defending league champions Manchester United at Old Trafford on 21 August 1993. This was Newcastle's first goal in the Premier League. Exactly three months later, Cole scored all three goals as Newcastle defeated Liverpool 3–0 at home. Another emphatic hat-trick followed against Coventry City in late February and with Peter Beardsley almost as lethal as his strike partner. Cole scored 41 total goals in all competitions – breaking the club's goalscoring record which had been set by Hughie Gallacher nearly 70 years earlier (Gallacher still holds the record for the highest number of league goals in a season with 36).