by The sensational Erling Haaland scored five goals as Manchester City progressed to the Champions League quarter-finals with a 7-0 win over RB Leipzig.
Haaland took his tally for the campaign to a staggering 39 appearances from 36 in a reckless performance at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday.
Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne also made the goalscoring list as City completed an 8-1 aggregate triumph over the German side, but it was Haaland who took the plaudits on a wintry evening – and had people reaching for the record books.
With his first two goals, the Norwegian became the youngest player to score 30 goals in the Champions League at the age of 22 years and 236 days.
But he didn’t stop there, becoming only the third player to score five goals in a single Champions League game, taking his total in the competition to 33 in 25 appearances.
He is also now City’s most prolific goalscorer in a single season, beating the previous record of 38 set by Tommy Johnson in 1928/29.
Making light out of the snow and sleet, City got under way early, with Gundogan, Haaland and Jack Grealish all threatening in the early stages.
It took a few more dubious decisions to help them establish an early stranglehold, but once they took control of the game, the visitors withered.
Their first stroke of luck came when they were awarded a disputed penalty following a VAR review.
Referee Slavko Vincic was sent to the screen to check if a Rodri header had hit the back of Benjamin Henrichs’ arm from point-blank range before a shot on goal.
The defender certainly knew little about it, but Haaland didn’t let the opportunity thrown at him from the point pass as he put City ahead after 22 minutes.
The Norwegian doubled the lead just over a minute later, usually finding himself in the right place at the right time to bring home a rebound after a thunderous De Bruyne shot hit the bar.
He might have had his hat trick after that, but Janis Blaswich saved a wild shot.
Leipzig tried to fight back but City benefited from another controversial call after Ederson sped out of his area and appeared to have brought Konrad Laimer down. The city keeper escaped the penalty and Leipzig was rarely dangerous again.
Haaland clinched his treble just before half-time after a Ruben Dias header hit the post and rolled over the line. Amadou Haidara made it first, but his attempt at clearance shot off Haaland’s legs and into the net.
The goal line turned to defeat four minutes into the second half when Gundogan smashed a defender with a clean touch on the edge of the area, slamming Blaswich over the goal with a low left footed shot.
Things got worse for Leipzig almost immediately as Haaland grabbed his fourth from a corner. There were some flippers in the area as Blaswich saved from Haaland and Manuel Akanji but City’s impressive number 9 made no mistake on the second try.
It looked like Haaland and City could score at will as he made it 6-0 after 57 minutes.
Again, Blaswich managed to parry an initial attempt from Akanji but Haaland, at his ruthless best, repelled the rebound.
City came close again when substitute Riyad Mahrez forced Blaswich to save, but the excitement died down after manager Pep Guardiola decided to eliminate Haaland just after the hour mark.
Of course, he left the field to great applause for his remarkable performance.
De Bruyne completed the goal in added time with a superb shot from the edge of the box.
