Manchester City’s Haaland calls scoring his ‘super strength’ after 5-goal outburst
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March 15 (UPI) — Soccer star Erling Haaland scored five times in Manchester City’s route of RB Leipzig, tying a Champions League record. The Sky Blues striker called scoring his “super strength” after the shutout victory.
Haaland scored three goals in the first half of the 7-0 win Tuesday at Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England. He added two more scores in the 53rd and 57th minutes, but was substituted off the field in the 63rd minute.
“After scoring five goals, I have to say scoring goals,” Haaland told BT Sport, when asked about his super strength. “Should I be honest? A lot of goals today, I didn’t think, I was just doing it. … I was just trying to get it into the back of the net.
“I think a lot of it is just being quick in the mind, doing the right thing and trying to put it where the goalkeeper is not.”
Forwards Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne also scored for the Sky Blues, who advanced to the Champions League quarterfinals.
Haaland drew first blood with a penalty kick in the 22nd minute. He found the net again less than two minutes later.
De Bruyne took the initial attempt during that sequence, but that shot hit the crossbar. Haaland, who stood about six yards away from the net, headed in a follow-up shot past Leipzig goalie Janis Blaswich.
His third goal, another follow-up, came in the second minute of first-half stoppage time. De Bruyne sent in a corner kick to spark that goal. Center back Ruben Dias headed that pass into the right post. Haaland then flew into the area and tapped the rebound past the goal line.
The Sky Blues used a series of crisp passes to find the net for the fourth time in the 49th minute. Midfielder Jack Grealish sent the final feed to Gundogan, who buried a grounded shot inside the right post.
Haaland scored his fourth goal less than five minutes later. De Bruyne started that sequence with a corner from the right side. Dias headed a secondary pass from the far post. Haaland headed in an initial attempt at the near post, which bounced back out into the box. He followed that shot with a strong volley into the left side of the net.
He finished his scoring spree less than four minutes later. Blaswich first denied a shot by Sky Blues right back Manuel Akanji, but the rebound again went back into the box.
Haaland, who stood about eight yards from the net, finished the play with a one-touch shot into the center of the goal, giving the Sky Blues a 6-0 lead.
De Bruyne ripped a 25-yard shot past Blaswich and into the upper right corner in the second minute of stoppage time for the final score of the night.
The Sky Blues will host Burnley in the FA Cup quarterfinals at 1:45 p.m. EDT Saturday at Etihad Stadium. The Champions League’s quarterfinal draw will be held Friday at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. The draw will air at 7 a.m. on UEFA.com.
The first legs of the quarterfinal matchups will be April 11 and 12. The second legs will be April 18 and 19.