How did Erling Haaland react to being substituted? Manchester City striker makes double hat-trick claim after 5-goal haul against RB Leipzig
Five-goal hero Erling Haaland has revealed what he told Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola after being replaced just past the hour mark in the 7-0 annihilation of RB Leipzig. The Norwegian admittedly told his coach that he would have loved to stay on and try to score a Champions League double hat-trick.
Having drawn 1-1 in the first leg of their Round-of-16 clash with RB Leipzig, Manchester City welcomed the Germans to the Etihad Stadium for the second leg on March 14. The defending English champions produced a masterclass at home on Tuesday, cruising to a 7-0 victory (8-1 on aggregate) and securing passage to the quarter-finals.
Haaland was the undisputed star of the show as he scored a staggering five goals, including a 25-minute hat-trick in the first half. The former Borussia Dortmund striker was replaced by Julian Alvarez in the 63rd minute, which caused him to miss out on a potential double hat-trick.
Speaking to BT Sport, Haaland admitted that he was not particularly thrilled after Guardiola took him off.
Erling Haaland reveals his reaction to Pep Guardiola's decision to sub him off after five goal haul in Champions League #ManCity #MCFC | Metro football-addict.com/en/article/man…
When asked about his substitution, Haaland replied:
“I told him [Pep Guardiola] I would love to score a double hat-trick but what can I do?”
Haaland then assessed his own performance, saying:
“It’s a big night. Firstly, I’m proud to play in this competition, I love it. Five goals. To win 7-0 is amazing.
“My super strength is scoring goals. Should I be honest? A lot of goals today, I didn’t think. I was just trying to get it into the back of the net. A lot of it is being quick in the mind and trying to put it where the goalkeeper is not.”
Erling Haaland’s five-goal haul saw him equal Lionel Messi and Adriano’s records in the Champions League. Besides the 22-year-old, Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne were on the scoresheet for Manchester City.
Manchester City goal machine Erling Haaland broke impressive Champions League records against RB Leipzig
Erling Haaland’s sensational five-goal haul against RB Leipzig took him to three impressive records on Tuesday night.
In the 24th minute, Haaland scored his second goal of the match, a couple of minutes after netting his first from the penalty spot. It took his UEFA Champions League goal tally to 30 in just 25 games, making him the quickest to reach the milestone.
At 22 years and 236 days, he also became the youngest in history to score 30 Champions League goals.
Erling Haaland set a new Champions League record after scoring twice against RB Leipzig in the return leg of UCL at the City of Manchester Stadium on Wednesday.
#UCL #MCIRBL
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Of course, the Manchester City powerhouse did not stop there. He scored in first-half injury time to complete his hat-trick before adding two more in the 53rd and the 57th minutes respectively.
Erling Haaland took his season tally to 39 (36 games) with his five goals against Leipzig, with no Manchester City player in history scoring as many in a single season.