The Norwegian top scorer was played free by Phil Foden, and alone with RB Leipzig goalkeeper Janis Blaswich, he made no mistake: Haaland wide-sided the ball into the goal – and thus took another milestone. In his 35th Mesterliga game, he scored his 40th goal in the tournament. No one has taken fewer games to reach 40 goals, neither in the Champions League nor the Serie Vinnercup, as it was called before. The record previously belonged to Spanish Real Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stéfano, who retired in 1966. He took 41 games to reach 40 goals. Other football greats on the list are players such as Eusébio, Lionel Messi, Andriy Shevchenko and Thierry Henry, all of whom are well away from the ice bow. See the overview of players here: Just a few days ago, Haaland became the fastest to 50 Premier League goals. He did that in 48 games. Haaland is number 20 on the list of all-time top-scoring players in the history of the Champions League. Manchester City legend Sergio Agüero is ahead of him on the list with his 41 goals. Disappointing 1st half Although it was yet another milestone in Haaland’s career, there did not seem to be any highs for Manchester City. The reigning Champions League winners produced a weak first half and were severely punished by RB Leipzig striker Loïs Openda, who scored both once and twice. At the same time, Haaland had 45 difficult minutes out on the Etihad grass: He had three chances, but put two of them straight at the goalkeeper. Another he blew over the crossbar. The BBC described Manchester City as “unrecognisable” in the first half, but the whistle took on a completely different sound after the break. But ten minutes into the second half it was over for the Norwegian. Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola made several offensive changes after the break and got results. Because when Phil Foden was given both time and space to find Haaland, he did just that. FULL CONTROL: Here Erling Braut Haaland scores the 40th Champions League goal of his career. Photo: OLI SCARFF / AFP With a precise breakthrough pass, Haaland was alone with the goalkeeper. The City striker took one touch to set up the ball, before placing it under control for Blaswich. It was his fifth goal this Mesterliga season. He is now joint top scorer with Manchester United’s Rasmus Højlund and Atlético Madrid striker Álvaro Morata. Turnaround A short quarter of an hour later, Foden took on the role of finisher and rolled in the equaliser, and barely five minutes before full time, Julian Alvarez replaced Julian Alvarez in the turnaround. The ball fell to him right in front of the goal and the Argentine knocked in 3-2 – and secured the victory for Manchester City. THE STEAK FIXED: Erling Braut Haaland and Julian Alvarez celebrate the latter’s decisive goal. Photo: Dave Thompson / AP Then the BBC described the light blues as “European champions”. – The evening’s lesson? Never write off Manchester City, they wrote. 3–2 means that the group victory in Group G is in the box for the light blues. There is still one group stage match to go. RB Leipzig had previously secured promotion from the group, and ends up in second place. Manchester City face Red Star in the final group stage match. Then Erling Braut Haaland gets a new opportunity to embellish the Mesterliga statistics.
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New Haaland milestone – fastest ever to 40 goals in the Champions League – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcast schedule
