Manchester City’s Erling Haaland (22) scored a whopping 5 goals.
Manchester City defeated Leipzig 7-0 in the second leg of the round of 16 of the 2022-23 season European Football Association (UEFA) Champions League held at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England on the 15th (Korean time).
At the center of the big win that day was Manchester City’s forward striker Haaland. Haaland, who completed a hat trick only in the first half, scored two more goals in the second half.
After the game, Holland said in a broadcast interview, “Everything is blurry in my head right now. I don’t remember the goal scene. I just remember shooting.”
“I had a lot of goals, but I didn’t think about anything else. I just thought about kicking the ball and shaking the net. As I came on as a substitute, I told manager Pep Guardiola that I could have done a ‘double hat trick’,” he added.
Holland’s concentration on this day was amazing. All eight shots were on target, and five of them scored. This marked his fifth hat-trick of the season.
According to football statistics company ‘Opta’, it is the first time since Harry Kane (Tottenham) in the 2016-17 season that a Premier League player has scored five hat-tricks in one season. He has previously scored hat-tricks in league matches.
He showed his strong side not only in the league but also in the Champions League. He has scored 10 goals in 6 Champions League matches. As a result, Haaland, who has played in 25 Champions League matches in his career, has scored 30 goals in the fewest games. He also went down in history as the youngest player to score 30 goals at the age of 22 years and 236 days.
Guardiola’s praise for Haaland “Life will be boring when you’re 22 and have that kind of record or milestone. I’ll be aiming for six goals anywhere in the future. That’s why I switched.” 스포츠토토
Haaland left the ground after being replaced by Julian Alvarez in the 18th minute of the second half of the day. He scored 5 goals in 63 minutes, so he would have been able to score 6 goals if he had played full-time.
Guardiola also compared Haaland to the scene where Lionel Messi scored five goals 11 years ago. He said, “Haland set the same record as Messi, but he achieved it in 60 minutes. It should be seen as different. Who knows if he played 90 minutes.”
Meanwhile, Manchester City, who drew 1-1 in the first leg, beat Leipzig with a combined score of 8-1 in the first and second leg and advanced to the quarterfinals. Manchester City has advanced to the Champions League quarterfinals for six consecutive seasons since the 2017-18 season. However, there has been no victory so far.
It was in the 2020-21 season that it reached its highest point. Manchester City lost 0-1 to Chelsea in the final.