Some recordings take forever. Some only last 94 years. Since Tommy Johnson scored 38 goals in 1928-29, no one has Manchester City The shirt fit him. Until he has 19 games and maybe almost three months of his season left, Erling Haland He passed her with an extraordinary goal-scoring display. This Champions League supposed to be the toughest rivalry in the sport, but Haaland scored five goals in an hour-long elimination draw against the semi-finalist club two seasons ago.
Records are being broken, and it’s not just City’s top club that was founded before the Wall Street Crash and lasted half a century after Johnson’s death. The most by a City player in a Champions League campaign was Riyad Mahrez’s seven last year. Haaland passed that to become the top scorer in this season’s competition. He was the fastest player to reach 30 Champions League goals in just 25 games and currently has a total of 33 goals. After already conceding four hat-tricks in his short City career, he scored his fifth on Tuesday night. Previously only Luiz Adriano and Lionel Messi had done this in a Champions League match, and the first double hat-trick of the tournament was in the cards had Pep Guardiola not kicked him out in the last half hour.
Leipzig was that poor, that porous. Josko Gvardiol had the World Cup’s outstanding centre-back, but it was forgivable to ask for superior teammates as they smashed. Leipzig conceded six goals at Etihad Stadium last season, but at least Christopher Nkunku scored a hat-trick that day. Except for the wounded Nkunku, they had no such threats and accepted seven. This was embarrassing for a team that beat Real Madrid in the group stages.
For City, meanwhile, it was the most empathetic way to reserve their place in the quarterfinals for the sixth time in a row. Long before Kevin de Bruyne curled up in the seventh round with a striking long-range shot on the final kick of the game, his fans spoke in chorus about being “the best team in the world.” The final decision could come in June in Istanbul; For now, however, they may have to settle for being a side most people hope to avoid in Friday’s draw.
When Haaland left with a standing ovation, it felt out of place to think that he had only scored three goals in his previous nine games. He paired it at halftime. Furious and dominant, this was his best City performance. It was too fast, too big, too brutal and accurate for Leipzig. With 11 goals against them, officially his favorite opponents and certainly Marco Rose can testify that the forewarned are not prearmed. The Leipzig manager was in charge of Dortmund last season, where Haaland scored 29 goals. The Norwegian’s appetite for goals may be even greater. He settled this draw by two within minutes and then increased his tally to five at 35 minutes.
If Leipzig deserves any sympathy amongst its misfortunes, it’s because of the few striking decisions that went against them. At 2-0, Ederson went out of the box and fouled Konrad Laimer but went unpunished. Before then, the stalemate had been broken when City received the kind of punishment that no one objected but could have been the product of technology; When referee Slavko Vincic was sent to the field monitor and some were puzzled by his final decision. Rodri headbutted Benjamin Henrichs on the arm in the penalty box table football match. Paying little attention to reason, Haaland took the penalty.
Erling Haaland scores penalty against RB Leipzig
(PA)
If Leipzig was shaken, their bar was shaken for Haaland’s second place. De Bruyne hit the boards hard from 20 yards away, after the Norwegian player pointed the ball towards him. The recoil fell for the advancing Haaland’s header. He started and finished the move, forcing goalkeeper Janis Blaswich hastily into an opening, closing him.
The third came lucky. Ruben Dias covered Jack Grealish’s corner with a header that hit the post and rolled along the line. As Amadou tried to clear Haidara, he instead threw the ball into Haaland and thus into the net.
Fourth, Blaswich was hooked on the second attempt after saving the first header after another corner. The fifth was a rebound after the unconvincing goalkeeper countered Manuel Akanji’s shot with a loose parry. The fact that he was able to play two more at halftime was a sign of how irresistible he was.
The other goal came from a German. Even then, Leipzig could not enjoy it. Ilkay Gundogan struggled to make a save with an early half volley from Blaswich before shooting a low shot from the edge of the penalty area. The assist went to Grealish but even then Haaland did his part, finding the £100m man and playing a part in the build. Guardiola could enjoy this more than any of his five goals. The professional predator in Haaland is less likely to happen. And he could begin to envision a season of 39 to 50 goals to his name.