Five goals from Erling Haaland made it a memorable night for Manchester City as they beat RB Leipzig 7-0 at the Etihad Stadium to secure an 8-1 aggregate victory. Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne scored the others as City progressed to the Champions League quarter-finals
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| Image: Erling Haaland celebrates scoring his fifth goal of the match against RB Leipzig |
Erling Haaland scored five goals to power Manchester City into the quarter-finals of the Champions League with a 7-0 win over RB Leipzig at the Etihad Stadium.
The tie had been precariously balanced after a 1-1 draw in Germany but Haaland took the game away from City's opponents with a first-half hat-trick and added two more before the hour on an astonishing night. His tally for the season now stands at 39.
Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne grabbed the other goals but the evening belonged to the 22-year-old Norwegian. He is the first man in nine years to score five in a Champions League game and it might have been more had Pep Guardiola not withdrawn him.
The City boss knows there are bigger tests ahead and though Arsenal retain a five-point lead in the Premier League title race, with Guardiola's team now in two quarter-finals - and Haaland in this mood - a spectacular finale to the season could yet lie ahead.
Player ratings
Man City: Ederson (6), Stones (9), Dias (7), Akanji (7), Ake (8), Rodri (7), Gundogan (8), De Bruyne (9), Silva (9), Haaland (10), Grealish (7).
Subs: Foden (7), Mahrez (7), Phillips (6), Alvarez (6), Gomez (6).
RB Leipzig: Blaswich (6), Henrichs (4), Orban (5), Gvardiol (5), Raum (5), Laimer (6), Kampl (5), Haidara (5), Szoboszlai (5), Werner (4), Forsberg (5).
Subs:Silva (6), Poulsen (6), Simakan (6), Olmo (6), Klostermann (6).
Player of the match: Erling Haaland.
Haaland's record-breaking night in stats
Erling Haaland has broken Man City's 94 year-old record for most goals scored in a season. His 39 goals beats the previous record of Tommy Johnson that has stood since 1929.
Haaland is the third player to score five goals in a single Champions League game after Luiz Adriano in October 2014 and Lionel Messi in March 2012.
He has scored 33 goals in 25 games in the Champions League, reaching the 30-goal milestone in fewer matches than any other player in the competition’s history.
Haaland also became the youngest player to reach 30 goals in Champions League history.
Haaland has scored five hat-tricks for Man City in all competitions this season, three more than any other player in Europe's big five leagues.
He is the first Premier League player to score five hat-tricks in a season since Harry Kane in 2016-17.
Haaland has scored 10 goals in the UEFA Champions League this season, the most by a Man City player in a single season in the competition.
How Haaland blew Leipzig away
His first of the night came from the penalty spot, a harsh handball decision going against Benjamin Henrichs following a VAR check. The second, just two minutes later, was magnificent, a towering header after De Bruyne's shot had struck the crossbar.
The third ricocheted in off him from barely a yard out after Ruben Dias' header had rolled along the line, but Haaland makes a habit of being in the right place. His fifth hat-trick of the season in this stadium. The second of them to come before the half-time whistle.
Team news
Pep Guardiola made only one change from the team that won 1-0 at Crystal Palace on Saturday with Kevin De Bruyne returning in place of Phil Foden, who dropped to the bench.
RB Leipzig also made one change the weekend with Kevin Kampl coming into the midfield in place of striker Andre Silva. That saw Timo Werner lead the line on his own.
Ederson was fortunate to escape punishment when he clattered into Konrad Laimer after racing out of his area, while Timo Werner missed his kick when well placed to pull one back. But that occasional sloppiness at the back never really looked like being costly.
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