It wasn’t much of a contest Tuesday between Manchester City and RB Leipzig as the two clubs clashed in the second leg of their Champions League round of 16 matchup. City ran roughshod over their German counterparts defeating them 7-0 and advancing on aggregate 8-1.
However, headlines will mostly be focused on Erling Haaland and his 5 goal explosion in the aftermath of the victory as the 22 year old broke several records when all was said and done.
With goals at the 22, 24, 45+2, 53, and 57 minute marks, Haaland broke the Manchester City single season scoring record when he netted his fifth tally of the contest. The Norway international now sits at 39 goals across all competitions for the English club, surpassing Tommy Johnson’s mark of 38. Johnson’s 1928-29 season stood as the benchmark for nearly a century in the annals of Manchester City.
Not only did Haaland break a club record in the contest, but he also set several Champions League records in the process as well.
At 22 years, 236 days old, the forward broke Kylian Mbappe’s record for youngest player to reach 30 goals in UCL competition by 116 days. Furthermore, he also became the fastest player to 30 goals in Champions League history, reaching the mark in only 25 games played.
The All-World talent wasn’t content to merely hit the 30 goal mark however, as he would finish his night with 33 goals in 25 matches when the final whistle mercifully blew.
“It’s a big night. Firstly, I’m proud to play in this competition, I love it. Five goals. To win 7-0 is amazing,” Haaland told reporters following the contest. “My super strength is scoring goals. Should I be honest? A lot of goals today, I didn’t think. I was just trying to get it into the back of the net.”
With his otherworldly feat, Haaland joins Lionel Messi and Luiz Adriano as the only players to have ever scored five goals in a single UCL match in the history of the competition.
With 11 Premier League matches still on his schedule, Haaland figures to comfortably pad his club scoring record, while also taking a run at the all-time Premier League scoring record as well.
Alan Shearer and Andy Cole currently share the Premier League scoring record with 34 goals apiece. With 28 goals already to his credit, the 6’3” 192 lb forward has a realistic shot to add yet another record to his ever growing resume of athletic feats.
Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan added the other two markers for Manchester City in their victory as the club now moves on to the quarterfinals. The draw for the quarterfinal matchups will take place on Friday March 17th at 7am ET.
Photo: Werner100359. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.