Erling Haaland becomes the third player to score five goals in the Champions League as Manchester City qualified for the Champions League quarterfinals with an 8-1 aggregate against RB Leipzig.
The game was balanced in the first leg with a 1-1 draw, but Manchester City was an entirely different team in England.
Manchester City’s Gundogan had the chance to score in the 3rd minute of the match, but the ball hit over the bar.
Jack Grealish had an opportunity in the first half, but his shot was deflected after so much pressure from the RB Leipzig defenders.
Manchester City looked dangerous anytime they went forward.
Manchester City scored the first goal after Rodri’s header hit RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Henrichs’ arm.
After a minute-long check on the VAR monitor by the referee, the official pointed to the penalty spot.
Erling Haaland wasted no time in scoring the goal, even with the RB Leipzig goalkeeper moving the right way.
A few minutes after the Norwegian star scored a penalty, he doubled the lead after a follow-up on a Kevin De Bruyne shot that hit the crossbar.
Haaland was denied a hat trick after his shot was saved by Blaswich, who used his left leg to stop the ball from going into the net.
Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson was lucky not to have seen the red card in the first half after making an unnecessary rush out from the 18-yard box to stop a counterattack.
Ederson collided with Konrad Laimer, the referee did not give a free kick, and Timo Werner was given a yellow card for protesting against the referee’s decision.
Blaswich yet again saved another shot on target in the 39th minute from Gundogan. The goalkeeper was the reason why Manchester City didn’t score nine goals in the Tuesday’s match.
Erling Haaland scored his fifth hat trick of the season after Ruben Dias’ header came close to the edge of the goal post and RB Leipzig’s Amadou Haidara failed to clear the ball out of his own 18-yard
box. Haaland saw that as an opportunity and hit the ball.
At this stage, it looks like Manchester City are through to the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
Manchester City came into the second half like a team hungry for more goals, even though they had a two-goal advantage.
Gundogan exchanged passes with Grealish at the edge of RB Leipzig, and the German decided to try his luck against the RB Leipzig goalkeeper. The ball went into the net without any obstruction.
Guardiola seems to be light with his style of play and not as relentless as the other players have been so far.
Haaland’s fourth goal came in the 54th minute as the striker has been in fine form in the match.
He linked up with De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva to score the fourth goal.
The striker’s first shot was saved by Blaswich, but he could not stop the Norwegian striker from blasting it home.
RB Leipzig defenders were slow to react to Haaland’s reaction on the ball.
Riyad Mahrez was denied by Blaswich, who already had a nice game in the match but couldn’t deal with the experience of Manchester City players.
Manchester City does not know when to stop, and Haaland made it his fifth goal of the match.
Manchester City’s Akanji forced Blaswich into another save, but Haaland was quick to capitalize on the rebounce to extend the scoreline.
Manchester City finished the match with De Bruyne scoring the last goal to make it 7-0 and 8-1 on aggregate.
De Bruyne bend the ball into RB Leipzig goal post leaving Blaswich with no
chance.
What Next For Manchester City And Leipzig
Manchester City will continue its impressive form when it faces Burnley in the FA Cup on March 18, 2023.
It is going to be a nice reunion between Guardiola and Vincent Kompany.
RB Leipzig, on the other hand, will battle with VfL Bochum. RB Leipzig are much more likely to win the game as they continue to push on in the title race. A win against VfL Bochum would greatly help their confidence after losing to Manchester City in the Champions League.
