Erling Haaland made history by scoring five goals, including a hat trick in the first half, as Manchester City defeated RB Leipzig 7-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday to advance 8-1 overall to the quarterfinals.
Haaland and Lionel Messi are the only players to have scored five goals in a Champions League knockout stage game. He is also one of only three players to have scored five goals in any Champions League match, along with Luiz Adriano.
The Norwegian scorer broke Tommy Johnson’s 1928-1929 single-season scoring record with 39 goals, which he equaled with his record-breaking haul.
– Stream on ESPN+: The draw for the Champions League knockout round is as follows: More information: “It’s a big night. Five targets It’s amazing to win 7-0, he said.
Goal scoring is my superpower. Should I be truthful? He continued, “I was just trying to get it into the back of the net.” A lot of it comes from trying to put it where the goalkeeper isn’t and thinking quickly.
After a 1-1 draw in Germany, the round-of-16 match was evenly poised. However, the Premier League champions, led by Haaland, defeated Leipzig easily in Manchester to reach the quarterfinals for the sixth time in a row.
After a contentious handball decision against Leipzig defender Benjamin Henrichs, Haaland converted a penalty kick in the 22nd minute, giving City the lead despite the hosts’ early dominance.
City took complete control just over a minute later, with Leipzig still reeling from the missed penalty.
After receiving some pre-match coaching from Pep Guardiola, Kevin De Bruyne returned to the starting lineup with a sensational left-footed shot that hit the underside of the crossbar and was followed by Haaland’s shot into an unguarded net.
Haaland became the youngest player to score 30 Champions League goals (22 years, 236 days) and fastest (25 games).
However, the Norwegian was not near being finished.
When Leipzig’s Amadou Haidara cleared the ball off the line but straight at City’s striker after Ruben Dias’ header hit the post in the final action of the first half, Haaland once more displayed his predatory instincts.
Haaland scored his first three goals in the Champions League since making his debut with FC Salzburg in 2019 and joined Messi as the only players to score a hat trick in the first half of a Champions League knockout game.
However, the second half had plenty more to offer.
After a neat exchange with Jack Grealish, Ilkay Gundogan snatched some attention from his teammate with a well-placed goal in the 49th minute, but the Haaland show was only briefly interrupted.
His fourth and fifth goals, both from predatory close-range finishes, came in the 53rd and 57th minutes, respectively, to make it five goals in 57 minutes. That is faster than Messi’s 84 minutes and Luiz Adriano’s 82 minutes, respectively, for the same feat.
Haaland did everything in his power to show that he could be the difference-maker in bringing the blue half of Manchester a Champions League title after they had repeatedly failed to win it.
City had opportunity and willpower to match their record triumph in a UEFA contest when De Bruyne got his compensation for a fine exhibition with a relentless strike in stoppage time to make it 7-0 and complete Leipzig’s hopelessness with their heaviest-at any point rout.
