Manchester, England – erling holland scored five times as Manchester City Ankit RB Leipzig 7-0 to book their place in the Champions League quarter-finals.
City reached the last eight for the sixth year in a row after Haaland found the net five times in the space of an hour at the Etihad Stadium. ilke gundogan And Kevin De Bruyne Was on the scoresheet in route as well.
Haaland is the third player to score five goals in a Champions League game Lionel Messi And Luiz Adriano broke City’s single-season goal record less than a year after joining the club Borussia Dortmund,
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Swift response
1. Haaland’s five broke the marks of Embappé and Messi
The numbers being produced by Erling Haaland in his first season in England are astonishing and they are only getting more impressive. After scoring five times against RB Leipzig – including his fifth hat-trick of the season – the Norwegian is now on 39 goals, one more than City’s season record of 38 already set by Tommy Johnson in 1928-29. It’s only March and with City still three competitions away, Haaland could easily cross 60 by the time the campaign ends.
His second goal against RB Leipzig – a close-range header after troubling janice blaswich In a mistake — making him the youngest player to reach 30 goals in the Champions League at 22 years and 236 days. kilian mbappe (22 years, 352 days) and Lionel Messi (23 years, 131 days).
Pep Guardiola said ahead of this week that against sports diamond palace, RB Leipzig and Burnley will decide their season. Two matches down, and Haaland has contributed significantly in both. He was signed by City to officiate crucial games at the business end of the season and he is doing just that. Burnley have something to worry about ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup tour.
, Champions League knockout round draw: Full details
2. VAR review allows floodgates to open
RB Leipzig came to Manchester believing they could shock after securing a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Germany, but they never got the chance to make up for a nervy night for City. Supporters inside the stadium had no idea what was happening when Slovenian referee Slavko Vinčić began to fumble on pitch monitors to see a possible penalty, which no one else had seen.
Even after review, it seemed too harsh to judge Benjamin Henriques had handled rodriheader of Haaland didn’t care and scored his 35th goal of the season from the penalty spot, while the remnants of RB Leipzig’s opposition were still being aimed at Vincic, giving the Norwegian his second chance of the night.
In a span of two minutes midway through the first half, RB Leipzig’s game plan went awry and after trailing 3-1 on aggregate, they faced an almost impossible task. By the time Haaland sealed his hat-trick in stoppage time of the first half, the game was over and the second half was little more than a training session for Guardiola and his men.
City were heavy favorites before the game and RB Leipzig would probably have lost anyway, especially with Haaland in such form, but coach Marco Rose has every right to feel that his team were not helped by the officials.
3. Apart from Bayern, top Bundesliga sides get harsh lessons
RB Leipzig are out, joining Borussia Dortmund to be eliminated by one Premier League after being fired by Chelsea, Bayern MunichThe best the Bundesliga has to offer they are still included after they leave Paris Saint Germain But the rest of Germany is playing in England with a bigger budget.
RB Leipzig have not progressed past the last 16 since reaching the semi-finals in 2020, while Dortmund have a best-of-three quarter-final finish since reaching the final in 2013. It could have been different for RB Leipzig Christopher Nkunku Only available for just over 24 minutes in two games, but the French striker is a fine example of why the likes of Leipzig and Dortmund will regularly struggle to make it into Europe’s top eight teams.
Nkunku is leaving for Chelsea in the summer, while Dortmund’s best player, Jude BellinghamCould follow Haaland to City if they can fend off competition real Madrid And liverpool, It’s hard to play catch-up when you’re constantly having the rug pulled from under your feet.
best and worst performers
Best: Erling Haaland, ST, Manchester City
Scoring five times in a Champions League knockout game is a formidable feat.
Best: John StonesDF, Man City
He played at right-back and in midfield and excelled in both positions.
BEST: Kevin De Bruyne, MF, Manchester City
The build-up to the game was criticized by Guardiola but scored a surprising seventh goal.
Worst: Janice Blasevich, GK, RB Leipzig
He made a poor mistake as RB Leipzig conceded a quick second goal.
worst: timo wernerFW, RB Leipzig
The former Chelsea striker had a night to forget on his return to England.
worst: josco guardiolDF, RB Leipzig
Going up against one of the best strikers in the world in Holland, one of the best young defenders saw his team concede five goals in the space of an hour.
Highlights and Notable Moments
Good positional awareness by Haaland, who scored his second goal (after the first on a controversial penalty), finding himself in the right spot after Kevin De Bruyne bounced off the woodwork of Belter.
Two goals in two minutes. Erling Holland with her 30th #ucl Target. pic.twitter.com/rg7EMukU9j
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) March 14, 2023
But De Bruyne owned the night, saving it for the waning seconds of the match with a beautiful curling shot.
Kevin de Bruyne saves the best for the end, it’s 7. pic.twitter.com/Q1Lz71tljt
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) March 14, 2023
After the match: What the managers and players said
Erling Haaland on his five-goal night: “My super strength is scoring goals. Do I have to be honest? A lot of goals today, I didn’t think. I was just trying to get it in the back of the net… a lot of it going too fast. Mind Plant and try to put it where the goalkeeper is not.”
Pep Guardiola on Haaland’s sub-conquest: “If he achieves this at the age of 22, his life will become boring! He has something to aim for.”
Haaland was quickly gunned down for BT Sport: “When I left I told Pep I would love to score a double hat-trick but what can I do!”
Key Stats (Provided by ESPN Stats & Information Research)
– Pep Guardiola was the coach for both Haaland and Messi on their five-goal performance in the Champions League. Messi in the round of 16 match against Bayer Leverkusen in 2011–12.
Manchester City set their own record for the biggest margin of victory against a German team in the Champions League (7–0 vs Schalke in the round of 16 of 2018–19).
– This is the seventh time that a German team has conceded more than 6 goals in the Champions League. Pep Guardiola has been the coach in four of those games (one at Barcelona and three at Manchester City).
next
Manchester City: host Burnley in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Saturday (Stream live on ESPN+ at 1:45PM ET) before the FIFA international window. He will return to action on April 1 in a league game against Liverpool.
RB Leipzig: But VfL Bochum on Saturday (Stream live on ESPN+ at 10:30am ET) in the Bundesliga before the break. hosting Mainz 05 On 1 April.