Manchester City gives RB Leipzig no chance in the 7-0 round of 16 second leg of the Champions League. Erling Haaland succeeds in doing something historic.
After the change of sides, national player Ilkay Gündoğan increased the lead to 4-0 (49th). Haaland then followed up with two more goals (53rd, 57th) and thus tied a five-pack before he was substituted after almost an hour to standing ovations. Haaland now has a proud 39 goals in 36 competitive games for City to his credit.
Kevin De Bruyne scored the final point in injury time.
That’s how the game went
Leipzig, which had three nominal sixes in Amadou Haidara, Kevin Kampl and Konrad Laimer, had little access under City’s constant pressure – and wobbled in defense. After a cross from De Bruyne, Gündogan (3rd) was suddenly completely free, but chased the ball over the goal from a few meters before Haaland started to open up and Leipzig could hardly get out of their own half.
With a long ball on the Norwegian, Nathan Ake easily overturned the RB defense, goalkeeper Janis Blaswich (11th) made a strong save in a one-on-one with Haaland. When RB had survived the hosts’ first wave of attacks, the Slovenian referee Slavko Vincic intervened.
As a result of an aerial duel between Benjamin Henrichs and City’s Rodri, the ball involuntarily jumped into the national player’s hand – nevertheless, according to the video images, Vincic pointed to the point. For former Bundesliga referee Manuel Gräfe, this was a wrong decision.
“Slowly I can’t think of anything anymore. Simply grotesque! Arms in a completely natural position at the appropriate height and then also from behind and only slightly touched on the upper arm,” tweeted the former referee. Meanwhile, Borussia Dortmund’s Mats Hummels demanded on his account: “We need a change in the hand penalty decisions. It’s going in the wrong direction.”
Haaland safely sunk the penalty and followed up just two minutes later. If De Bruyne only hit the crossbar with a powerful shot from a distance, the 22-year-old headed the ball over the line. Although Leipzig dared a little more as a result, the guests couldn’t get City under control. First Gündogan (39th) tested Blaswich from an acute angle before Haaland scored a hat trick after Ruben Dias had initially headed to the aluminum.
After the break, the Haaland madness continued. City twirled the RB rows, Gündogan aimed more precisely than before half-time after preparatory work from Jack Grealish – and Haaland seemed to magically attract the balls. Twice he inimitably prevailed in the fray after corners from De Bruyne and converted ice cold.
Only Luiz Adriano (2014) for Shakhtar Donetsk in a 7-0 win at BATE Borisov and Lionel Messi (2012) in a 7-1 win against Bayer Leverkusen had previously scored five goals in a premier class game. The people of Leipzig didn’t even know what happened to them. But City team manager Pep Guardiola showed mercy when he substituted Haaland in the 63rd minute.
