MANCHESTER: Erling Haaland netted five of seven Man City goals as manager Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City demolished RB Leipzig 7-0 to reach the Champions League quarter-finals.
The Norwegian superstar forward took his tally for the campaign to a staggering 39 from 36 appearances in a ruthless performance at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday.
Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne also got on the scoresheet as City completed an 8-1 aggregate triumph over the German side but it was Haaland who took the plaudits – and had people reaching for the record books – on a wintry evening.
By scoring his first two goals, the Norwegian became the youngest player to reach 30 goals in the Champions League aged 22 years and 236 days.
Yet he did not stop there, going on to become only the third player to score five in a single Champions League game and take his overall total in the competition to 33 in 25 games.
He is now also the most prolific scorer in a single season for City, beating the previous record of 38 set by Tommy Johnson in 1928-29.
Inter Milan reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time since 2011 after a goalless draw in Porto secured their progression.
Romelu Lukaku’s goal four minutes from the end of the first leg was enough to see Inter through, where they join their city rivals AC Milan.
Mehdi Taremi came within inches of forcing the tie to extra time when he rattled the crossbar in the closing stages.
The Portuguese side were reduced to 10 men in the seventh minute of injury time when winger Pepe was shown a second yellow card..
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