Premier League

Player ratings as Haaland scores five in dominant win

Player ratings as Haaland scores five in dominant win

Manchester City stormed into the quarter-finals of the Champions League with an utterly dominant 7-0 victory over RB Leipzig.

Erling Haaland scored five to seal a scoreline which by no means flattered City. The home side could hardly have been more on-top if they had tried and would have undoubtedly scored more goals had Pep Guardiola not withdrawn his big names early.

It was all City straight away, with Pep Guardiola’s side boasting well over 60% possession after 15 minutes, and some penalty box pinball left the dominant hosts wondering how they had not yet opened the scoring.

Fortunately for City, VAR called the referee over to penalise a handball from Benjamin Henrichs in amongst the chaos, and Haaland made no mistake from 12 yards.

Before fans could even catch their breath, Kevin De Bruyne sent a strike from range crashing against the bar but Haaland was there to sweep up and head home the rebound 77 seconds after his first goal.

City’s defending got a little scrappy after that and Ederson was fortunate not to avoid punishment for a clumsy challenge on Konrad Laimer which somehow ended up being given in the goalkeeper’s favour.

However, City’s concerns didn’t last long as Haaland completed his hat-trick by bundling home from a corner with the final kick of the first half, pouncing into action after Ruben Dias’ header had trickled across the goal-line.

The hosts’ relentless tempo continued after the break and Ilkay Gundogan added a fourth with a low strike from the edge of the box just four minutes after the restart.

Four more minutes passed before City were celebrating again. It was Haaland once more, thundering home from a corner to match the team’s all-time season scoring record with 38, and he broke it almost straight after when he tapped home another rebound to add his fifth on the evening.

Guardiola showed mercy on the hour mark by withdrawing Haaland, after which the tempo of the game died down. City were content controlling the ball and Leipzig were already dreaming of the flight home.

There was still time for a seventh, and it was the pick of the bunch. De Bruyne curled home a glorious strike from range in the dying embers, capping off what was an utterly superb performance from the Belgian.

GK: Ederson – 6/10 – A moment of madness for his collision with Laimer but atoned for it with some excellent passing.

RB: John Stones – 8/10 – Excellent in the inverted full-back role. So composed on the ball and physically dominant to give City that extra boost.

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