Football

Erling Haaland scores five as impressive City overpower Leipzig

by
Dan Chemjor
March 14, 2023

Erling Haaland scores five against Leipzig. |PHOTO: Sky Sports|

Manchester City’s last-16 Champions League match against RB Leipzig ended in a 7-0 thrashing for the visitors.
City advanced to the quarterfinals 8-1 on aggregate thanks to Erling Braut Haaland’s five goals.

The second leg of Manchester City‘s last-16 Champions League match against RB Leipzig ended in a 7-0 thrashing for the visitors. City advanced to the quarterfinals 8-1 on aggregate thanks to Erling Braut Haaland’s five goals.

Haaland added two more goals before the hour mark to bring his season total to 39, securing a match ball and surpassing the previous record of Man City’s best goal scorer in a single season.

The Premier League champions destroyed their struggling opponents, who were little recognizable from the group who justifiably drew with City three weeks prior, with contributions from Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne as well.

How the game unfolded

Haaland opened the score from the penalty spot. |PHOTO: Getty Images|

Although both teams were eager to press hard right away, Pep Guardiola’s men quickly gained control of the ball, and it only took Haaland 11 minutes to have his first opportunity at goal.

Haaland easily outran Josko Gvardiol after latching onto a long ball over the top from Nathan Ake, but he was unable to get the ball past the charging Janis Blaswich.

Only 11 minutes later, when Rodri’s header from a corner brushed Benjamin Henrichs’s outstretched arm on its way down, the most recent and contentious use of the handball rule was put into action.

Leipzig was able to escape the ensuing goalmouth melee, but after being told to check the monitor, referee Slavko Vincic quickly decided to give a penalty kick for Henrichs’s handball.

The right-back was booked as Haaland smashed a penalty into the bottom corner to give Manchester City the lead.

Only 19 seconds after the restart, De Bruyne sent a 20-yard attempt hit the crossbar, and Haaland leapt to head home the rebound.

Ruben Dias met a corner at the back post, and his header hit the inside of the post and slid across the line, Amadou Haidara reacted quickly and attempted to clear, but he only managed in striking the ball off Haaland’s leg as the striker claimed his sixth hat-trick of the season.

City’s impressive second-half performance

Erling Haaland put five past Leipzig.|PHOTO: Sky Sports|

Gundogan scored the fourth goal for the hosts in the 49th minute, cutting to his left and finding the corner from just inside the box after a clever link-up with Jack Grealish.

Only four minutes later, despite Blaswich’s best efforts in a goalmouth scramble Haaland was in the right place at the right time to fire in number four on the half-volley.

In the 57th minute, Leipzig became victims of a five-star Haaland performance, as he hammered it home into the far corner for a scarcely imaginable fifth.

As the action slowed down in the last half-hour, De Bruyne had time to grab the goal his performance deserved, looping a magnificent attempt into the top corner.