Haaland Archives

Haaland ends barren run as City reach Champions League last 16

Erling Haaland ended his 10-game wait for a goal from open play as Manchester City beat Galatasaray 2-0 on Wednesday to book their place in the Champions League last 16.

Rayan Cherki was also on target for Pep Guardiola’s men, who took advantage of results elsewhere going their way to sneak into the top eight and avoid a perilous play-off next month.

“With a bit of drama, we did it,” said City captain Bernardo Silva.

“With the schedule, with the amount of injuries we have at the moment, to have those two full weeks to prepare the team, to recover some players, to focus on other competitions for now is going to be really good.”

City know the dangers of the play-off round only too well after being dumped out at that stage by Real Madrid 12 months ago.

A week on from an embarrassing defeat to Bodo/Glimt that put their place in the top eight at risk, Manchester City made amends against a Galatasaray side that will go into the play-offs.

Haaland had been left on the bench by Guardiola for the first time in the Premier League this season for Saturday’s 2-0 win over Wolves.

The Norwegian’s only goal since December 27 prior to Wednesday, had come from the penalty spot against Brighton.

But Haaland showed no signs of a lack of confidence when he nonchalantly lifted the ball over Galatasaray goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir from Jeremy Doku’s fine through ball.

Doku was also the creator of the second goal when he picked out Cherki inside the box to slam low into the corner.

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

But the Belgian’s departure soon after, with what appeared to be a hamstring injury, was the one sour note of the night for Guardiola.

“It’s a big miss,” said Guardiola. “Jeremy is such an important player for many reasons.”

With City still in the running for silverware in four competitions, they were desperate to avoid adding two more games to a congested calendar in February.

Marc Guehi was not yet eligible to play in the Champions League, forcing Guardiola to name an experimental defence without centre-backs Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol.

But the Turkish champions failed to seriously test City’s weak spot despite boasting the presence of Victor Osimhen up front.

The Nigerian forced Gianluigi Donnarumma into one stop just after the hour mark, but his shot was too close to the giant Italian.

Guardiola continued to frantically prowl the touchline in the second period, but all the drama was taking place away from the Etihad Stadium to secure City’s place in the last 16.

Real Madrid’s 4-2 defeat at Benfica and a 1-1 draw between Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle saw all three miss the chance to finish ahead of City.

Madrid could await in March as the 15-time European champions are one of City’s four possible opponents in the last 16 alongside Inter Milan, Benfica and Bodo/Glimt.

READ: Salah ends goal drought as Liverpool reach Champions League last 16

Haaland hits 50 UCL goals as Manchester City cruise over 10-man Napoli

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola said Erling Haaland can become the all-time top goalscorer of the Champions League after reaching 50 in record time in the 2-0 win over 10-man Napoli.

Haaland reached his half-century in Europe’s elite competition in just 49 appearances before Jeremy Doku ensured Guardiola’s men got their quest for Champions League glory off to a winning start.

“The numbers speak for themselves and how fortunate we are to have him,” said Guardiola.

Haaland moved to 12th in the all-time scoring Champions League scoring charts and is barely over a third of the way to Cristiano Ronaldo’s record 141 goals.

But Guardiola believes the 25-year-old has time on his side to reach that milestone.

“Along with the two monsters of the past 15 to 20 years, Ronaldo and (Lionel) Messi, Erling is there. In terms of goals, he is unbelievable,” added Guardiola.

“In that rhythm, he can break the record. If he can play 10 to 12 more years and maintain this progression, absolutely.”

There was no fairytale return to the Etihad for Kevin De Bruyne as his night was cut short after just 26 minutes as a result of Giovanni Di Lorenzo’s early dismissal.

De Bruyne was welcomed back like a hero just months after departing as one of City’s greatest players in the club’s history.

The Belgian’s name rang around the Etihad before kick-off, while a series of banners paid homage to the man who contributed nearly 300 goals or assists in 422 matches during his time in Manchester.

However, Antonio Conte showed no room for sentiment as he sacrificed the 34-year-old to bolster his defence with the introduction of Mathías Olivera.

“I was very sorry I had to make that substitution. I also knew by taking him off, we were going to miss some of the things he could give us,” said Conte.

“But I don’t really see that I had any other option. He understood why I had to make that decision.”

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

The game-changing moment came when Di Lorenzo made a desperate lunge to prevent Haaland from running clear on goal and wiped out the Norwegian on 21 minutes.

Referee Felix Zwayer initially thought the defender had got a touch on the ball but was instructed by VAR to review and correct his error.

Napoli held firm until half-time thanks to some spectacular goalkeeping from Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.

The Serbian, who had a brief spell early in his career at Manchester United, produced excellent saves to deny Rodri, Nico O’Riley, and Josko Gvardiol.

Even when Milinkovic-Savic appeared beaten in first-half stoppage time, Matteo Politano got back on the line to block Tijjani Reijnders’ goalbound effort.

There was only one outcome once the Napoli rearguard was eventually breached 11 minutes into the second half.

Phil Foden’s flick found Haaland, who looped a header over Milinkovic-Savic for his 12th goal in seven games for club and country this season.

Doku then delivered the knockout blow with a brilliant individual run past three Napoli defenders before slotting coolly under the onrushing goalkeeper.

Ahead of a trip to title rivals Arsenal on Sunday, Guardiola could afford the luxury of resting Haaland and Rodri during the closing stages, which resembled a training exercise as City stroked the ball around at will.

Conte conceded the Italian champions were happy just to limit the damage in what is likely to be their toughest trip of the league phase.

“We didn’t want to come out of this humiliated, because it could have happened,” added Conte.

“They could have pulled our pants down and lost 5-0 or 6-0, and we avoided that thanks to our attitude.”

READ: Marcus Rashford bags brace to help Barcelona defeat Newcastle

Haaland hits 45 as Man City make mark against Bayern

MANCHESTER: Erling Haaland scored his 45th goal of the season as Manchester City took a commanding 3-0 lead over Bayern Munich from their Champions League quarter-final, first leg on Tuesday.

Rodri and Bernardo Silva were also on target for the English champions, who took a giant stride towards finally conquering Europe for the first time.

Victory was sweet for City boss Pep Guardiola as he came up against his former club for the first time since leaving Bayern for Manchester in 2016, but he warned that the job is not yet done.

“I’ve been three years there and I know in Europe this team is special. To knockout these type of teams you have to make two good games not just one,” said Guardiola.

“I know exactly what we have to do there, They are capable to score one, two, three goals. We have to do our game with huge personality.”

City also partially settled a Champions League score with Bayern boss Thomas Tuchel, who beat Guardiola’s men to lift the trophy as Chelsea manager in the 2021 final.

Tuchel was appointed less than three weeks ago by the German champions with one eye on this tie and he believed his side deserved more.

“I try to not allow my players to focus on the result because it is not the deserved result, it does not tell the story of this match,” said Tuchel.

“I’ve seen so many good things that I refuse to just focus on the result. You may say ‘that’s not Bayern’ but I was very proud on the sideline, we were courageous and showed the right character.”

City fought off interest from Bayern among other European giants to win the race to sign Haaland a year ago for nights like this and the Norwegian played his part in a clinical performance.

Haaland uncharacteristically fluffed his lines with the first big chance of the game when his weak shot was straight at Yann Sommer.

At the other end, City were grateful to a brilliant block from Ruben Dias to prevent Jamal Musiala putting Bayern in front.

Rodri then showed the forwards how it is done as the Spaniard took aim from long range on his weaker left foot and curled a sumptuous shot into the top corner on 27 minutes.

– City turn the screw –

Bayern picked up Sommer in the January window as an emergency measure after Manuel Neuer’s season was ended by a skiing accident.

The Swiss international proved the value of that move with a number of vital saves to keep Bayern in the tie, starting with an outstretched leg to deny Ilkay Gundogan.

But Bayern were made to regret not making their bright start to the second period count.

Leroy Sane twice came close to haunting his former club with powerful efforts that were beaten away by Ederson before Matthijs de Ligt and Kingsley Coman had headers from close range blocked by desperate City defending.

Instead, City turned the screw in the final quarter to take a potentially decisive lead to Bavaria next week.

Haaland showed there is more to his game than goals with a perfectly weighted cross for Silva to head in City’s second 20 minutes from time.

Sommer then produced a fine stop low to his left to turn Julian Alvarez’s shot to safety.

But City were not to be denied their third and Haaland his goal as he stretched out a telescopic right leg to turn John Stones’ knockdown beyond Sommer.

Alvarez fired another effort inches wide and Sommer needed finger tips to turn over Rodri’s header as City went in search of a final flourish.

But Bayern will need one of the Champions League’s all-time great comebacks in eight days’ time if City are to be denied a third consecutive semi-final.

READ: I hope to play with Messi next season at Barca: Lewandowski