Erling Holland’s 5 goals led Manchester City past RB Leipzig

by
6:25 PM ET

  • Rob DawsonReporter

MANCHESTER, England — Erling Holland scored five times as Manchester City beat RB Leipzig 7-0 to reach the Champions League quarterfinals.

City reached the last eight for the sixth consecutive year after Haaland found the net five times in the space of an hour at the Etihad Stadium. Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne also missed out.

Haaland is the third player behind Lionel Messi and Luiz Adriano to score five goals in a Champions League game and also broke City’s single-season goalscoring record less than a year after joining the club from Borussia Dortmund.

– Broadcast on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga and more. (USA)
– Read on ESPN+: The best men’s player right now? Draw numbers

Quick reaction

1. Haaland’s five goals are more than Mbappe and Messi

The numbers produced by Erling Holland in his first season in England are staggering and they are only getting more impressive. After scoring five times against RB Leipzig, including his fifth hat-trick of the season, the Norwegian now has 39 goals, one more than City’s record of 38 in a season set by Tommy Johnson in 1928-29. It’s only March and with City still three competitions away, Haaland could easily pass 60 before the end of the campaign.

His second goal against RB Leipzig – a close-range header after a mistake by Janis Blasvic – made him the youngest player to reach 30 goals in the Champions League at 22 years and 236 days, overtaking Kylian Mbappe (22 years, 22). 352 days) and Lionel Messi (23 years, 131 days).

Pep Guardiola said ahead of this week that games against Crystal Palace, RB Leipzig and Burnley will decide the season. Two matches followed, and Haaland was a key contributor in both. He was signed by City to handle crucial games at the end of the season and that is what he is doing. Burnley have to worry ahead of Saturday’s trip to the FA Cup.

– Champions League play-off draw: Full details

2. A VAR review lets you open the floodgates

RB Leipzig arrived in Manchester believing they could cause a shock after a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Germany, but they failed to produce an upset night for City. The fans inside the stadium had no idea what was going on when Slovenian referee Slavko Vincic started running to the pitchside monitor to watch a potential penalty that no one had noticed.

Even after review, it seemed too harsh to say that Benjamin Henrichs had handled Rodri’s header. Haaland didn’t care and scored his 35th goal of the season from the penalty spot, and with the remnants of RB Leipzig’s protests still directed at Vincic, the Norwegian grabbed his second goal of the night.

Two minutes into the first half, RB Leipzig’s game plan fell apart and they were left with an impossible task at 3-1. The game was wrapped up when Haaland scored a hat-trick in first-half stoppage time, and the second half was little more than a training session for Guardiola and his players.

City were heavy favorites going into the game, and RB Leipzig could have lost anyway, especially with Haaland in such form, but manager Marco Rose has every right to feel his side were not helped by the officials.

3. Apart from Bayern, the Bundesliga’s top sides will learn a harsh lesson

RB Leipzig have joined Borussia Dortmund on the sidelines of the Premier League after being kicked out by Chelsea. Bayern Munich, the best the Bundesliga has to offer, are still in contention after knocking out Paris Saint-Germain, but the rest of Germany are chasing big budgets in England.

RB Leipzig have not made it past the last 16 since reaching the semi-finals in 2020, and Dortmund’s three quarter-finals since reaching the final in 2013. It could have been different for RB Leipzig had Christopher Nkunku been available for more than 24 minutes. two games, but the French striker is a good example of how the likes of Leipzig and Dortmund are constantly fighting to break into Europe’s top eight.

Nkunku is set to move to Chelsea in the summer, while Dortmund star Jude Bellingham could follow Haaland to City if they can beat off competition from Real Madrid and Liverpool. It’s hard to keep up when you’re constantly having the rug pulled out from under your feet.

The best and worst performers

THE BEST: Erling Holland, ST, Man City
Scoring five goals in a Champions League play-off is a formidable achievement.

BEST: John Stones, DF, Man City
Played at right back and midfield and excelled in both positions.

BEST: Kevin De Bruyne, MF, Man City
Criticized Guardiola during the game, but scored the seventh goal.

WORST: Janis Blasvich, GC, RB Leipzig
He made a poor mistake as RB Leipzig conceded a quick second goal.

Worst: Timo Werner, FW, RB Leipzig
It was a night to forget when the former Chelsea striker returned to England.

BEST: Josko Guardiol, DF, RB Leipzig
Against one of the world’s best forwards in Haaland, one of the best young defenders saw his team concede five goals in less than an hour.

Highlights and highlights

Haaland’s awareness of the situation bounced off the woodwork as he found himself in the right place after a Kevin De Bruyne belter to score his second goal.

But De Bruyne saved it in the waning seconds of the match with a beautiful curling shot.

After the match: What managers and players said

Erling Holland on his five-goal night: “My great strength is scoring goals. Honestly? I’m going to score a lot of goals today, I didn’t think. I tried to put it in the back of the net… A lot of it is quick in the game. smart and trying to put it where the goalkeeper is not.”

Pep Guardiola rejects Haaland: “If he reached that milestone at 22, his life would be boring!” He has something to aim for.”

Holland joins BT Sport early: “I told Pep I wanted a double hat-trick when I left, but what can I do!”

Key Stats (Courtesy of ESPN Stats & Information Research)

– Pep Guardiola coached Haaland and Messi in their five-goal Champions League campaign. Messi was in the round of 16 against Bayer Leverkusen in the 2011-12 season.

– Manchester City broke their record for the most wins against a German team in the Champions League (7-0 against Schalke in the 2018-19 1/8 final).

– The German national team conceded 6 goals for the seventh time in the Champions League. Pep Guardiola coached four games (one at Barcelona and three at Man City).

Next

Manchester City: host Burnley in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Saturday (Live on ESPN+ at 1:45pm ET) in front of the FIFA international window. They return to action on April 1 in a league game against Liverpool.

RB Leipzig: VfL at Bochum on Saturday (Live on ESPN+ at 10:30 a.m. ET) in the Bundesliga before the break. Hosting Mainz 05 on April 1st.

Leave a Comment