Erling Haaland sent Manchester City into the last eight, scoring five of seven goals against RB Leipzig to become the third player in Champions League history to score five goals in a game. At just 22 years and 236 days old, he also broke Kylian Mbappe’s record of being the youngest man to that hit the feat – 116 days younger than the PSG star. Get your soccer predictions and more here!
“My super strength is scoring goals,” said Haaland. “A lot of it is being quick in the mind and trying to put it where the goalkeeper is not. I was so tired after my celebrations.” The Norwegian scored a first-half hat-trick just before halftime to give Pep Guardiola’s team a 3-0 lead at the break. He scored his fourth in the 54th and his fifth in the 57th. Don’t miss Premier League updates and more here!
The Norwegian goal machine now joins Lionel Messi and Luiz Adriano in this record-equalling five goals feat. With these goals, he now has 33 goals in 25 appearances in Europe’s premier club competition, which surpassed the record held by Ruud van Nistelrooy (34 games). He also broke Tommy Johnson’s 94-year record for most goals for City in a single season.
Ilkay Gündoğan made it 4-0 in the 49th, while Kevin De Bruyne curled in a stunning seventh goal for good measure seconds before the final whistle to give Pep Guardiola a step closer to winning a first Champions League title in the club’s history.
“That was an incredible performance,” said Leipzig coach Marco Rose. “They didn’t allow us to control the game at all, at no stage of the game. The bottom line is disappointing for us, but they really deserved it.” Meanwhile, Leipzig midfielder Emil Forsberg admitted that he was hurt by the defeat. “It doesn’t feel good. I don’t want to look for excuses. It hurts. City did well, they have a fantastic team.”
Elsewhere, Inter also advanced to the final eight for the first time since going out at that stage as the defending champion in 2011 despite sharing spoils with Porto in a goalless match. City and Inter are waiting for their contenders as Napoli take Eintracht Frankfurt, while Real Madrid host Liverpool in the second-leg and final leg of their Champions League quarter-final match.
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