Pep Guardiola jokes he purposely denied Erling Haaland chance to seal double hat-trick in Manchester City's 7-0 rout of Leipzig
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has jokingly claimed that he denied Erling Haaland the chance at a double hat-trick on purpose in their 7-0 win over RB Leipzig.
The Cityzens hammered the German side in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie at the Etihad on March 14. After a 1-1 draw from the first leg, City added seven goals without reply to win the tie 8-1 on aggregate.
Haaland, 22, incredibly scored five goals on the night. He opened the scoring from the spot in the 22nd minute after a controversial penalty decision. The Norwegian then added two more goals in the first half before scoring twice in the opening 12 minutes of the second half.
Guardiola then subbed the striker off in favor of Julian Alvarez in the 63rd minute. Speaking about the substitution after the game, Guardiola jokingly said (via the Daily Mail):
"If he achieved this milestone at 22, 23 years old, it will be boring, his life. Now he has a target, that's why I make the substitution."
Speaking about Haaland's performance on the night, the Manchester City manager said:
"Today he scored five goals and I think he had 30-35 touches and this is what we are looking for. When you are involved in the game, when the time comes to score a goal you are more precise. It's difficult to score when you do not touch the ball for 40 minutes."
He added:
"Sometimes it's his fault. Sometimes he doesn't move - against Crystal Palace I said to him, 'You didn't play good today' - but other times it's our fault. Away to Leipzig, we didn't find him in the second half. But we are working to make the process quicker."
Haaland became the third player to score five goals in a single Champions League game since Luiz Adriano and Lionel Messi. He also became the fastest player to reach 30 goals in the competition, doing so in 25 games.
The Norwegian striker has now scored 39 goals and provided five assists in 36 games across competitions for Manchester City this season.
Who do Manchester City play next?
Pep Guardiola's side will next host Burnley, who are managed by Manchester City legend Vincent Kompany, in the FA Cup quarter-finals on March 18.
After the international break, they will host rivals Liverpool in the Premier League on April 1 before facing Southampton away on April 9.
Manchester City currently trail leaders Arsenal by five points in the race for the league title. They could be behind by eight points after this weekend as the Gunners will host Crystal Palace while City are involved in FA Cup action.