Clinical Haaland matches Messi, Adriano Champions League goal record
As rampant Man City demolish RB Leipzig at the Etihad
Manchester City forward, Erling Haaland was Tuesday night’s headline performer in the UEFA Champions League games of the night after netting five goals in the 70 demolition of German Bundesliga side, RB Leipzig at the Etihad stadium.
The Norwegian scored a first half hat-trick and added a two more after the restart before he was substituted by gaffer, Pep Guardiola.
The 21 year old has become in the process the third player to score five goals in a single UEFA Champions League game after Luiz Adriano in October 2014 (Shakhtar Donetsk vs BATE Borisov) and Lionel Messi in March 2012 (Barcelona v Bayer Leverkusen).
He is also the fourth player to score five goals for an English side in a European game, and the first since the 1970s.
The others are Ray Crawford (Ipswich Town, 1962), Peter Osgood (Chelsea, 1971) and Kevin Hector (Derby County, 1976).
Haaland has now scored 30 goals in 25 games in the UEFA Champions League and has reached this milestone in fewer matches than any other player, while he is also the youngest player to reach 30 goals in the competition’s history (22y 236d).
His first half hat-trick was fifth of the season for for Man City in all competitions this season, three more than any other player in Europe’s big five leagues. He’s the first Premier League player to score five hat-tricks in a season since Harry Kane in 2016-17.
